SC to take up Metro Bus case on Dec 30

[Salman]

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court will on December 30 take up the suo moto case on the environmental impact of the metro bus project, just weeks before the project is scheduled to be completed.
The court has already issued notices to secretary environment, chairman CDA and commissioner, as well as the director of the project in this matter.
The case will be heard, by Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Nasirul Mulk, after a passage of nine months.
Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) Mushahid Hussain, who heads a Senate panel on environment, had filed an application with the Human Rights Cell of the apex court on March 10, seeking the CJP’s intervention in the project.
Taking notice of the potential environmental threat, the then CJP had on March 14 sought detailed reports from CDA and other authorities concerned on whether the project poses any threat to the region’s master plan and its green belts, and whether an environmental impact assessment (EIA) study of the project had been carried out.
“These reports together with technical reports, if any, by the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency, Punjab Environmental Protection Agency and Climate Change Division are to be submitted by March 18, 2014,” the court had directed.
Later, the PML-Q senator, as well as Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MNA Asad Umar, had on May 10 jointly filed a petition seeking a declaration from the court that the metro bus project was constitutionally illegal.
The 23.4km-long project costing Rs44 billion was planned and formally approved by the Punjab Cabinet in a meeting held on February 1, 2014. In the same meeting, it was announced that the project will be inaugurated on February 28, 2014. Neither had the CDA given approval for such a project, nor were mandatory requirements under the Pak-EPA Act complied with, the petition stated.
The capital’s representatives further stated that the Punjab government had no jurisdiction over the plan since it lies within the territorial limits of Islamabad, adding that even CDA has no jurisdiction to execute the project within Islamabad nor is such jurisdiction vested under the Ordinance, 1960.
“No project…can be initiated in violation of the provisions of the Pak-EPA Act, rules, regulations and guidelines framed or issued there under Section 12 of the act,” it adds.
It further stated that no consultation and participation has been undertaken or held in accordance with law.
The petition requested the SC to declare that all the respondents, particularly Pak-EPA, have a statutory obligation to strictly implement and enforce the provisions of the Pak-EPA Act, and that no project can be initiated until an EIA has been prepared, reviewed with meaningful consultation and participation of experts and stakeholders within the legal guidelines.
It further requested the court to order the Rawalpindi Development Authority to proceed in accordance with the Islamabad Master Plan, formulate schemes as provided under the CDA Ordinance, and initiate projects after approval from the Punjab Environmental Protection Department.