Sepa report on Clifton traffic project: SHC extends stay order till September 4

The Sindh High Court (SHC) on Friday extended till September 04 its stay order on execution of the environmental impact assessment (EIA) report issued by the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) whereby it approved controversial mega traffic project that included construction of a flyover and two underpasses in the Clifton area of Karachi.
The Defence Housing Authority (DHA) approached the court, challenging Sepa's environmental impact assessment report that accorded its approval to the project. The counsel for DHA submitted that DHA had filed a lawsuit against the Bahria Town's mega traffic project launched in the Clifton area. A SHC single bench had allowed the DHA's lawsuit while ruling that all construction work in relation to the project be immediately stopped. The bench had asked the Karachi Municipal Corporation (KMC) to seek a mandatory environmental impact assessment report from Sepa on the project. He submitted that following the court directives, the KMC approached the Sepa to obtain a mandatory EIA report on the project. Subsequently, the Sepa issued the EIA report approving the project on August 05.
The counsel told the judges that during a public hearing on the project, DHA officials, residents and representatives of the Hindu community raised their objections over the project as the project encroached the Jahangir Kothari Parade, a heritage site, and also caused damage to the historical structures of the shrine of Hazrat Abdullah Shah Ghazi and Sri Ratneshwar Mahadev Temple in the vicinity. But their objections were not taken into account prior to the issuance of the EIA report. The court was requested to declare the EIA report as illegal and set it aside. A division bench headed by Justice Sajjad Ali Shah adjourned the matter till September 04 for want of time.