The Lahore High Court on Friday told the government to have road construction machinery that meant for a traffic-light-free corridor cleared from Qartaba Chowk to Liberty Chowk. The court stopped the government from taking any steps to carry on with the project and set March 20 to hear the project details.
Lahore Development Authority officials had told the court that they scheduled a public hearing on March 16 to get the public response. They said they had not filed the Environment Impact Assessment and started the project. A law officer tried to persuade the court to stop the Lahore Development Authority from continuing the maintenance work of the existing road, but the court rejected.
Petitioner Saad Amir claimed that the project had started in violation of the basic human rights and was a threat to the environment. He also said they were planning to remove the green belts from both sides of the road on the Main Boulevard Gulberg for this project. He went on to say it was planned to cut road-side trees and illegally acquire private land.