Capital’s deteriorating environment: Probe to fix responsibility

IHC justice orders civic agency, Pak-EPA officials to compile list of environmentally hazardous projects

ISLAMABAD:

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday constituted a commission to evaluate environmental issues in the federal capital and hold officials accountable for the deteriorating situation.

The commission, which comprises officials of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (Pak-EPA), will report to the court in two weeks after taking the contributing factors into account.

IHC Justice Athar Minallah, while hearing the petition of Usman Hashmi regarding misuse of greenbelts and open areas for commercial activities, admonished the civic agency and Pak-EPA high-ups for allowing illegal construction of high-rise buildings in violation of building by-laws and environmental codes.



“In the future, the CDA and the Pak-EPA will be responsible for any violation of environmental laws and they will pay the damages,” the judge observed while ordering the CDA to present a complete record of the Metro Bus Project including the minutes of a public hearing regarding the Environment Impact Assessment (EIA). The judge observed that CDA hastly organised a public hearing to get the no-objection certificate (NOC) from Pak-EPA.

The court also observed that the rainwater stream passing through F-9 Park was full of sewage generated by Naval and PAF colonies, which has ruined the park’s beauty.

When the court asked the CDA officials whether the civic agency took an NOC from Pak-EPA before changing the city’s master plan, they failed to satisfy the court.

The petitioner’s counsel, Dr Aslam Khaki, also drew the court’s attention towards the unchecked and mushroom growth of housing colonies in Islamabad along with other measures posing environmental hazards. He also pointed out other issues related to environment which were pending in the court for adjudication. He said individuals have encroached upon natural water streams while the CDA has turned a blind eye to the issue.

On this, the court directed court officials to club all environments-related petitions to take them up during the next hearing after two weeks.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 21^st, 2015.