Rumpus mars public hearing of bypass project

QAU faculty, students and locals say CDA started work sans EIA

ISLAMABAD:

The public hearing of the environment impact assessment (EIA) of the Bhara Kahu bypass project conducted by the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (Pak-EPA) was marred by a rumpus as local residents, faculty and students of the Quaid-i-Azam University expressed their outrage against the civic agency for starting work on the project without following codal formalities.

The public hearing, held at the Jinnah Convention Centre, was chaired by Pak-EPA Deputy Director (Lab&NEQS) Dr Mohsina Zubair, who was flanked by Capital Development Authority (CDA) Member Planning and Design Waseem Hayat Bajwa, Member Environment Muhammad Waqas Hanif and others.

During the question-and-answer session, the QAU teachers, students and the local residents raised their serious concerns against the project and lambasted the CDA for initiating the project without following codal formalities.

They said that the CDA started the project without carrying out the EIA and its approval from the Pak-EPA whereas it also broke the QAU security walls and felled trees without any permission.

The locals said that around 40 families were living next to the project site and none of them were consulted by the CDA.

Earlier, Dr Mohsina Zubair briefed the participants about the public hearing and urged them to pose relevant questions so that all queries could be addressed amicably.

The CDA official presented a detailed presentation on the project claiming that the bypass would not cause habitat destruction in the area.

The CDA official said the bypass was 5.22 kilometers long and of which 4.18 km was grade road, and 1.04 km was the elevated highway.

He said that 50 per cent of the traffic will be diverted to the Bhara Kahu bypass whereas its alignment was to cause less social and ecological damage.

The official said that the air quality report samples showed an increased level of pollutants on the existing route whereas high noise pollution was also noted.

There were only wild paper mulberry and eucalyptus trees along the project site which have been felled because they were detrimental to the environment, the CDA official said.

He noted that most of the non-governmental stakeholders were in the favour of the project whereas a sum of Rs50 million has been allocated for the environmental management budget which would help replenish the damaged ecology during the development work.

The alignment of the under-construction Bhara Kahu bypass project also passes through a portion of the QAU.

The Islamabad High Court has extended the stay, halting construction work on a portion of the multi-billion Bhara Kahu bypass project till the next hearing and has sought a reply from the federal government.

At the last hearing, the court said that there was no doubt that the bypass project was necessary but legal requirements will also have to be fulfilled. Additional input from APP

 

Published in The Express Tribune, November 19^th, 2022.