Resumption of construction work on Clifton project sought

KARACHI:

The Sindh High Court (SHC) has called comments from the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) on an application of its rival real estate business tycoon, Bahria Town, seeking resumption of the construction work on the flyover and underpasses in Clifton.

The order came on a plea submitted by Bahria Town, which sought the resumption of construction work after the court nazir's report.

The two real estate tycoons are engaged in legal battle over the construction of a flyover and underpasses in Clifton. The project aims to ease the traffic congestion in Clifton, where the Bahria Town is already building one of the country's tallest commercial buildings.

DHA had challenged the project, however, arguing that it was launched without having conducted the exercise to assess its impact on the environment in the neighbourhood.

Allowing its lawsuit on April 29, the SHC single bench had stopped the construction work, ordering the builder and financer to first obtain report regarding environmental impact assessment of the project from the provincial environmental protection agency.

Bahria Town's lawyer told the two judges on Tuesday that the construction work on the project had already entered its final stage before the SHC single bench had halted the construction through a stay order. The suspension of construction work is not only causing great inconvenience to the public but also creating an environmental hazard, the lawyer said.

The real estate tycoon's lawyer maintained that the surrounding buildings and neighbourhoods will suffer damage if the project is not allowed to complete ahead of the start of the monsoon season in the city. The court was pleaded to allow the resumption of work on an undertaking of the applicant, as it was submitted by the DHA in 2007, at its own cost and risk and subject to the decision made in accordance with the EIA.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 10^th, 2014.