KARACHI:
The Sindh High Court (SHC) suspended on Friday the Environmental Impact Assessment report issued by the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) on the flyover and underpasses being constructed in Clifton.
Headed by Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, the bench passed the order on the Defence Housing Authority's plea challenging the EIA approval on the construction.
On April 29, a SHC bench had ordered construction work on the project to be stopped and directed its financer and executor - the KMC and Bahria Town respectively - to first obtain the EIA approval from Sepa. Last week, the KMC had requested to the court allow them to resume the construction work on the grounds that Sepa had issued them the EIA approval. Before granting permission, the court had issued notices to the DHA to file comments or objections to the EIA report.
On Friday, the DHA filed its objections to the EIA approval and pleaded the court not to allow constructions to resume. The bench suspended the EIA approval and issued notices to Sepa, the KMC and others for their comments, which are to be filed by August 22. The construction work on the project will remain suspended until the next hearing.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 16th,2014.
