Zoning issue: LHC asks AAG to ensure closure of Mozang factory

Petitioner says EPA director’s order to shift unit not complied with.

LAHORE:

Justice Ayesha A Malik of the Lahore High Court sought a compliance report from an assistant advocate general (AAG) on a petition seeking removal of a factory from the Mozang residential area.

The judge directed the AAG to ensure that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) director’s order to move the industrial unit at 5-Mahal Road, Mozang and submit a report till September 20. Muhammad Aurangzeb, a resident of the area, had moved the petition through Advocate Zaheer Ahmad. He submitted that he had complained to the DCO that Sohail Iqbal was operating a heavy workshop called Liberal Lawn Mowers adjacent to his house.

He said the owner had installed heavy machinery which continued to operate throughout the night. He said the noise made it impossible to sleep and the vibrations had caused cracks in the walls of adjoining houses.

He said the area had been declared residential in the Lahore Master Plan 2012.

He said the workshop owner had also constructed an illegal basement. He said the workshop owner was not shifting the workshop despite several requests.

He said he had moved an application with the EPA who had inspected the industrial unit and declared it illegal.  He said the EPA director had ordered the shifting of the industrial unit but the order had not been complied with. He sought directions from the court to remove the industrial unit.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 13^th, 2012.