SHC stays opening of Gizri flyover

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

SHC stays opening of Gizri flyover
Wednesday, December 02, 2009

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday stayed the opening of the recently constructed Gizri flyover to transport till December 10, 2009.

A division bench, comprising Chief Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany and Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, also issued notice to the Director-General (DG), Sindh Environmental Protection Authority (SEPA) to file comments regarding the alleged violations of environmental laws in the construction of the flyover.

Petitioners, Aneesa Farooqui and other residents of Khayaban-e-Hafiz, DHA, approached the SHC against violations of environmental laws committed in construction of the flyover-starting from Submarine Chowrangi to Khayaban-e-Tanzeem-on the main Gizri Road.

They cited that the Federal and Provincial Ministries of Environmental Protection; the Environmental Protection Council; the CEO, Clifton Cantonment Board; the Defence Housing Authority, and M/S NESPAK as respondents.

Barrister Kamal Azfar, counsel for the petitioners, submitted that the Clifton Cantonment Board and the DHA hired M/S NESPAK for construction of the said flyover on which work was initiated in early 2008. He alleged that the mandatory legal requirements and formalities regarding the environmental effects of the project were not fulfilled.

The SHC disposed of two petitions on May 27, 2009, allowing construction of the flyover subject to a number of conditions. The DHA was directed to ensure compliance of the Rules & Regulations embodied in the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act, 1977.

The order specifically stated that in case of any negative findings in the Enforcement Impact Assessment of the created under Environmental Protection Act 1977, DHA shall be liable to legal consequences, besides being liable to making suitable compensation to any affected persons strictly in accordance with the relevant provisions of the law.

He said that now the Enforcement Impact Assessment had been carried out by the concerned authority in compliance with the order passed by the court on August 15, 2009, that indicate that the required conditions were not fulfilled by respondents. This affected the rights of the residents of Khayaban-e-Hafiz.

The SHC division bench issued notice to DG Sindh Environmental Protection Authority to file comments by the next date.