SHC sets aside stay order against Karachi flyover, underpasses

[Salman]

SHC sets aside stay order against Karachi flyover, underpasses

KARACHI: A division bench of the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Friday suspended the interim stay order against the construction of a flyover and underpasses in the Clifton area on an appeal filed by the private builder that challenged the stay order.

Bahria Town had challenged the SHC’s single bench order that restrained the construction company from carrying out the construction work at the site on a lawsuit of the Defence Housing Authority.

The SHC on April 2 restrained the construction work for two underpasses and a flyover on the DHA lawsuit that questioned the construction of the mega project without the approval of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).

Appellant’s counsel Faiz H Shah submitted in the high court’s appeal that construction of the flyover and underpass project in front of the AT Naqvi Chowk, Bahria Town Icon and Park Tower was originated by the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation for the citizens of Karachi and was a long pending issue on the government files. The counsel submitted that the appellant had lodged its Bahria Town Icon project and offered the KMC to exclusively finance the said project which was, after adopting all formalities, approved by the KMC.

He submitted that the appellant agreed to invest/donate all expenditure for completion of the project in question which had estimated cost of Rs1.8 billion and subsequently the site was handed over to its company for excavation work. He submitted that all legal formalities, including the Initial Environmental Examination approval, have been sought from the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency under Section 12 of the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act 1997 and legal requirements under the Second Schedule of the Regulation of 2000 had also been complied with.

He mentioned that Bahria Town had got carried out traffic impact assessment from a reputed company to ease the traffic issues in the heavily congested locality and offered construction of the underpasses and flyover to the KMC. It was submitted that the DHA with malafide intention and ulterior motives instituted a lawsuit and got an interim stay order against the construction. As a result, the entire construction work has been stagnated and such state of affairs caused great inconvenience to the citizens as well as the appellant. The counsel submitted that SHC’s single bench did not take into consideration the facts and material on the record while passing the impugned order, which is liable to be set aside. He submitted that the DHA had no locus standi to institute a case as the area where the construction work was being carried out did not fall into its jurisdiction. The court was prayed to set aside the stay order and allow the appellant to carry out the construction work.

The SHC’s division bench, headed by Justice Aqeel Ahmed Abbasi, after preliminary hearing of the appeal suspended the impugned SHC’s single bench restraining order and issued notices to advocate general Sindh, DHA and others for April 23.

It is pertinent to mention that the private builder’s director alleged that the DHA itself had carried out construction of the Gizri flyover without obtaining the Environmental Impact Assessment approval. He maintained that the court’s stay order was causing losses that would increase its cost and sufferings of the citizens, particularly the residents of the locality and pleaded to the court to vacate the interim stay order and dismiss the DHA’s lawsuit with special costs.

The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) also filed comments submitting that the DHA had concealed the advantages of construction project as after completion of the project, it will ease the traffic congestion the people have to face to access the Abdullah Shah Ghazi’s shrine, Seaview and park without any hindrance.

It stated that the project in question was initiated after getting the approval of the Sindh Environment Protection Agency and while granting the approval, the EPA had stipulated a number of conditions which were fully adhered to.

It said the project will turn out to be environment friendly since it will result in easing the flow of the traffic. The KMC apprehended that monsoon are fast approaching and if the said project is not completed, it will prove to be catastrophic since massive digging and excavation has already taken place and in case the project is not completed within the stipulated time, the entire vicinity may suffer.