Iftikhar stops cutting of trees along Canal

LAHORE-Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry while taking suo moto notice on an application Friday restrained Punjab government from felling trees for widening the Canal Bank Road besides summoning Chief Secretary, Environment Secretary and Project Director for December 1st at Islamabad.
‘Shajar Dost’, an organisation comprising environmentalists, had requested CJP on Wednesday, who was in the City for Eid holidays, to take suo moto notice of the issue and stop the government from cutting down trees. Their plea was that govt planned to start operation during Eid holidays, without meeting its obligations under the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act, 1997.
According to them, Punjab government is planning to widen road on both sides of the Canal from Thokar Niaz Baig to Dharampura underpass at a hefty cost of Rs 3.15 billion and that the project would cause cutting down of thousands of trees.
They said the government has not fulfilled its legal obligation of carrying out an EIA for the project. The Punjab Chief Minister has announced that work on the project would start immediately after Eid-ul-Azha.
‘Shajar Dost’ fears that the priceless trees would be the first casualty of this scheme.
Previously, an EIA was conducted for Rs 700m project but the citizens overwhelmingly rejected it at the public hearing. A case is pending in the Lahore High Court against the EIA for the previous project.
They pointed out that the project envisages felling of over 5000 mature trees and taking away 51 acres of green land which benefitted the general public. Road widening is also against the master plan of the City and suffers from major defects in terms of urban planning and transparency.
‘Shajar Dost’ fears that the trees might be cut illegally during the Eid holidays, which would cause irreparable loss to the citizens of Lahore.