The petitioners said the MTS had illegally approved a shopping mall, an office and entertainment complex to be built under a public-private partnership on 55 kanals of land in J-Block. PHOTO: lhc.gov.pk
The Green Bench of the Lahore High Court [LHC] on Friday stopped Model Town Society [MTS] from proceeding with three commercial projects on the basis that trees would be cut and green places in the area would be commercialised.
Justice Mansoor Ali Shah stopped the J-Block Commercialisation Project, the Liner Park Commercialisation Project and the Model Town Park Commercialisation Project.
The MTS had approved these projects at its Annual General Meeting [AGS] on December 12, 2012 and construction had already started at the Model Town Park.
Justice Shah granted a stay and issued notices to Model Town Society’s president and secretary, the Environment Protection Agency Director General and the Cooperation Society Punjab Registrar for March 29.
The petitioners, Tanwir Ahmed and Advocate Uzair Karamat Bhandari, both residents of Model Town, had submitted that green spaces were of utmost importance and use to the people of Lahore.
They said the Tourism Development Corporation of Pakistan had declared the 125-acre Model Town Park as one of the 10 best parks in the Punjab, visited by 5,000 people daily.
The petitioners said the MTS had illegally approved a shopping mall, an office and entertainment complex to be built under a public-private partnership on 55 kanals of land in J-Block.
According to the petition, 600 kanals were to be given to a private party on 15-year lease for setting up four restaurants in a corner of the park.
The petitioners said AGS has awarded 10-15 year lease for a children’s amusement park on 44 kanals.
The petitioners alleged that many members of the Model Town Society had not attended the Annual General Meeting and that hundreds of trees had already been cut in February for the J-Block project.
The petitioners said the J-Block nursery had also been damaged and tractors were being used to clear the area.
They prayed the court to declare the commercialisation projects illegal and permanently restrain the MTS from attempting to commercialise green spaces.
They prayed that Pakistan Environmental Protection Act and the requirements of Environment Impact Assessment should be considered before such projects were undertaken.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 16th, 2013.
1722521491-0/Ryan-Reynolds-TJ-Miller-0002-(1)1722521491-0-270x192.webp "tj miller reignites feud with ryan reynolds claims actor changed after deadpool s success")
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ