Hearing several petitions seeking the construction of Kalabagh Dam, Chief Justice Umar Ata Bandial of the Lahore High Court on Tuesday sought arguments from the petitioner’s counsel on what kind of order could be issued to the government in this case.
The chief justice adjourned further hearing of the case till November 8.
Earlier, lead counsel AK Dogar and Azhar Siddique urged the court to issue an order directly to the prime minister for the construction of the dam.
They said the Council of Common Interests (CCI) had resolved to construct the dam in an agreement signed between the provinces and the federation in 1991. Siddique said that the then prime minister and the four chief ministers had signed the agreement, which detailed the division of water between the provinces.
Therefore, he argued, the court could invoke the provisions of Articles 9 and 38 of the Constitution and order the construction of the dam under the doctrine of public interest. He said that the Supreme Court had recently allowed the cutting of trees for the widening of the Lahore Canal in the public interest.
Provincial consent
The petitioners had submitted earlier that failure to build the dam would result in a lot of land becoming barren. They said the project was in the interest of all four provinces and the objections against it were of a technical nature and could be removed.
They said that a technical committee on water resources had on April 11, 2005, given the green signal for construction of the dam. In June 1985 and July 1989, the Planning and Development Division had given approval for construction of the dam. In 2004, the LHC had ordered the government to take measures to construct the dam.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 31st, 2012.
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