HYDERABAD, Jan 20: The Sindh additional advocate-general on Tuesday sought time to file comments on behalf of the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency director-general on a petition, filed by residents of Kotri, challenging use of their agricultural land for the construction of the Right Bank Outfall Drain (RBOD).

The AAG was allowed time by the Sindh High Court, Hyderabad circuit bench, which adjourned the hearing to a date to be fixed by office of the court.

An executive engineer of the Right Bank Outfall Drain (RBOD-II), Nasrullah Soomro, through his counsel Ejaz Hakro filed a counter affidavit on a contempt of court application in court, denying that he had brought heavy machinery including excavators to start construction of the drain from lands and properties of green belt in Kotri after filing of contempt of court application.

He filed his application along with an affidavit in response to a contempt of court application, filed by petitioner Mushtaq Ali Shoro and others, challenging construction of the RBOD-II on their agricultural lands, last year. The executive engineer also denied that he completely destroyed standing Banana crops over eight acres of Chaudhry Saifur Rehman farm in Deh Kotri and threatened to demolish Dhani Bux Khaskheli and other villages.

He said that he did not excavate nor brought machinery, tractors to construct drain in the area mentioned in paragraph five of the affidavit of the petitioner, filed with a miscellaneous application. He said that he didn’t violate order of court dated May 16, 2007, calling for suspension of excavation work of RBOD-II in on the lands in question.

He said that the court had appointed a commissioner who visited the site and his report was already on record of the court. He said that an instant application has been filed to harass him.

The petitioners had filed contempt of court application, supported by an affidavit. They said that on May 16, 2007 the court passed an injunction in presence of the contemnor and his counsel, restraining them from excavating/constructing the drain in the green belt. He said that three days back the contemnor had brought heavy machinery including excavators, boring machinery, tractors and started construction of drain on the lands and properties of green belt.

They said that contemnor completely destroyed standing banana crops over an area of eight acres of Chaudhry Saifur Rehman farm in Deh Kotri and threatened to demolish villages. The petitioners said that contemnor had been deliberately violating high court’s order.

Mushtaq Ali Shoro, Mohammad Sharif Chaudhry, Essa Khan and Hameeduddin Arain filed a joint petition, citing federal secretary planning and development, Sindh secretary irrigation, project director RBOD-II, DG EPA and others as respondents. They are residents, land owners and cultivators of green belt which is 15km long and around one kilometer wide and situated in Dehs Khanpur, Kotri, Karokhao of taluka Kotri.

They said railway station’s marshalling yards and 17 villages having population of 100,000 was settled in green belt. Besides, thousands of acres of fertile land and mango orchards and other trees, two Eidgahs, seven schools and 45 water courses are also situated there.

Green belt is full of natural life, free from pollution and having sweet subsoil water for drinking while cultivation is dependent on Kalri Baghar (KB) feeder, they added. They said that since 1976 industrial and domestic waste of upper Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab was disposed of in Manchhar lake, which had disastrous effects, destroying its entire natural life including fish, rendered lake’s water poisonous and caused environmental problems.

They prayed to the court to declare change in alignment and construction of the RBOD as without lawful authority and issue permanent injunction against respondents from constructing the drain whereas mandatory injunction be issued directing DG EPA to enforce provision of the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act (PEPA) 1997 to ensure that no untreated industrial effluent and municipal waste was brought to a green belt or water sources.