Court trashes CDA’s order for land acquisition

Justice Jawad Hassan of the Lahore High Court (LHC)’s Rawalpindi Bench has nullified the notification issued by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to acquire 1,200 acres of land for dumping capital’s waste in the Losar suburb of the Rawalpindi district.

The notification, issued by the Rawalpindi Commissioner Liaquat Hussain Chatha, had allowed the administration of the federal capital to further acquire the land and dump the capital’s waste next to the already existing 1,200-acre landfill site of Rawalpindi district at Losar.

The LHC’s Rawalpindi Bench while granting the petitions filed by 10 citizens and 14 brick kiln owners against the CDA’s decision also refrained the garrison city's administration from allocating land for the establishment of a dumping ground for the capital city.

Earlier, while submitting its report in compliance with the court’s directives, the Punjab Environment Protection Department had also declared the dumping ground dangerous for the citizens of the area and the underground water.

The court has also directed to shift the 1200-acre landfill site of Rawalpindi in Losar in light of its decision. In its order, the court declared that a garbage dumping ground could not be built anywhere against the will of the local population. “Respect for the public opinion is essential,” it read.

“If the government wants to build a dumping ground, then according to the law, it should first be advertised for public opinion, then a public hearing should be held at an open place under the Environmental Protection Department and after taking the public opinion into account, it should be decided on merit and according to the law and the Constitution.”

The court said if the decision was against public opinion, the citizens should first appeal against it in the EPD’s tribunal and subsequent appeal in the high court.

The petitions were filed by Chaudhary Fazlur Rehman, Irfan Akhtar, Abid Hussain, Javed and Zafarul Haq and others.

Counsels for the petitioners, Chaudhary Asif and Umar Hayat advocates, argued that the Losar has been a waste dumping ground for the entire district of Rawalpindi for the past year. “Due to its presence, the entire area is suffering from cancer, tuberculosis, eye, nose, stomach, ear and respiratory diseases while the groundwater has also been contaminated,” they contended.

“The court already ordered to shift this dumping ground from here and in light of the court’s orders the district administration also acquired 1,250 acres of land on Chak Belli Khan Road, however, soon after assuming the reins of power, the caretaker Punjab government, instead of implementing the court’s decision, issued a notification to acquire another 1,200 acres of land to dump the garbage from all over Islamabad at Losar,” they argued.

During the course of the arguments, the petitioners’ counsel adopted the stance that allowing CDA to acquire another 1,200 acres of land for the dumping of capital’s waste at Losar will not only increase the total area of the toxic waste storage to 2,400 acres but will also result in an increase in the rate of spread of chronic diseases in the area.

“Islamabad garbage cannot be dumped in other districts. In order to protect the growing population of more than 200,000 people in the area, prevent the spread of infectious diseases and protect the underground water, the CDA’s notification to acquire 1,200 acres of land should be declared null and void,” they demanded.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 11^th, 2023.