Islamabad Expressway expansion: Environmental watchdog sets public hearing for Oct 17

Hearing comes almost a year after work on the project began sans EPA’s nod

ISLAMABAD: In what is seen as a move to grant the CDA a clean chit for chopping down around 800 trees while expanding the Islamabad Expressway, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has decided to hold a public hearing on the environmental impact  of the signal-free corridor.

The hearing by the environmental watchdog has been set for October 17.

The Capital Development Authority (CDA),  had started work on expanding the expressway on July 1, 2015, without submitting the mandatory Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report to the EPA or by obtaining a no-objection certificate (NoC). Subsequent notices, including an Environmental Production Orders (EPO), sent by the environmental agency to submit the report went unheeded by the CDA.

“The CDA did not obtain an NoC from the environmental agency nor did it submit any EIA report for the said project which is mandatory before embarking on any such construction activity,” an official at the EPA told The Express Tribune on condition of anonymity.

He added that that carrying out an environmental-impact study was imperative before embarking on any mega project but the CDA did not bother to do it, thereby violating rules of the EPA.

But no  clearance from the EPA did not stop the CDA from pressing ahead with work on three-stage project at full steam.



Phase-one of the project, including rehabilitation and widening of the Islamabad Expressway from Zero Point to Faizabad Bridge and construction of an interchange at I-8 intersection, has already been completed. Phase two is near completion with 50 per cent of work on the project almost complete. Preparation for phase three is now underway.

The EPA official added that this was not the first time that the CDA had failed to secure the necessary clearance from the EPA before working on a project after it had failed to do so for the construction of the metro bus project.

Eyewash

“At this stage [of the project], holding a public hearing by the EPA is a mere eyewash,” said Balil-e-Haq, a representative of Islamabad based environmental non-governmental organization (NGO), Green Islamabad. The NGO had taken the CDA to court in August 2015 for not filing the EIA of the project.

Haq, further told The Express Tribune that the CDA in the first phase of the project had mercilessly chopped down 500 fully grown trees without obtaining a no-objection certificate.

According to an EIA report prepared by NESPak, around 500 old trees lying in the path of the widened road were moved to other suitable locations, while 300 Mulberry trees were chopped down along with a large number of shrubs.

Noting that CDA had failed to obtain the requisite clearance from the EPA, Green Islamabad had in August 2015 filed a petition with the Islamabad High Court over the matter. A single-member bench of the IHC comprising Justice Amir Farooq heard the petition and gave the CDA and EPA a week to submit their written replies.

While the case has not come up for hearing since, the CDA in days following the court’s directives had submitted an EIA report with the EPA. However, the environmental watchdog turned down the report stating that it had been submitted after work on the project had begun and that the matter was sub-judice.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 10^th, 2016.