Basic structure of BRT to be built in six months, PHC told

Environment watchdog says govt has secured NoC from cantonment board

PESHAWAR: All civil work on the Bus Rapid Transit project being built in Peshawar will be completed within six months with the entire project to be completed by 2021, the government told the Peshawar High Court on Tuesday.

The Peshawar High Court’s (PHC) two-member bench comprising Chief Justice Yahya Afridi and Justice Syed Afsar Shah was hearing a writ petition filed by Maulana Amanullah Khan of Jamiat-e-Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) who had challenged the construction of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project, terming it as ‘legally and technically unfeasible.’



The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Environment Protection Agency (KP-EPA) Director General Dr Bashir Khan told the court on Tuesday that the project is being built over three phases.

“We have been promised by the K-P government that civil work (basic structure) of the BRT project will be completed in six months,” the EPA director told the court while responding to the petitioners’ claims that the government had misled the public.

The entire project, he added, will be completed till 2021 — details of which are also available on the websites of the Asian Development Bank and the BRT.

He further said that a company would be tasked with running the entire bus system, including the purchase of buses and hiring of staff. The salaries of the staff will be paid from the loan provided by the Asian Development Bank for the project.

NoC from cantonment board

Responding to the petitioners’ claim that the government had failed to obtain a no-objection certificate (NoC) from the Cantonment Board, Dr Bashir rebutted that the appropriate approval has been secured.

However, he conceded that there had been some miscommunications owing to which the petitioner had raised the issue.

“There are certainly some discrepancies in communication but the Peshawar Development Authority has said through a letter that the station commander of the cantonment board has issued an NoC which has been submitted to the court,” said the EPA official told the court.

The EPA head further said that all affectees of the project were informed through official letters but their main demand was for compensation.

“The K-P government has devised a resettlement plan and all affectees of the project will be compensated,” Dr Bashir said.

Environment and traffic plan

Responding to petitioner’s argument about the environmental impacts of the project, the EPA head said that they approved the project after conducting a public hearing after due advertisement in newspapers.

The government has committed to safeguarding the environment; they are bound to implement it [our recommendations] and if they fail to implement it, we will go against them,” Dr Bashir told the court.

“So far we are satisfied with the efforts taken by the K-P government for protecting the environment,” the EPA chief added.

The court reminded the EPA chief that he was responsible for protecting the city’s environment.

Abid Zarif, another petitioner against the BRT project, told the court that the government’s plan to manage the traffic in wake of massive construction activities in the city was ‘faulty’.

The environment watchdog chief conceded that they did not have sufficient alternative roads to divert the traffic, which is why the city administration was running into traffic jams.



“I have been provided with the traffic plan and so far the government has done everything that was humanly possible [to resolve the situation],” Dr Bashir said, adding that there will always be traffic and environmental concerns during the construction of such a mega project.

The case is adjourned till Wednesday (today) as the court summoned Advocate General Abdul Latif Yousafzai to present his arguments.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 22^nd, 2017.