KARACHI: An environmental tribunal has admitted a complaint against issuance of a no-objection certificate (NOC) by the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) for construction of a multistorey residential-cum-commercial project in KDA Scheme 33 allegedly in violation of environmental laws.

The three-member tribunal, headed by its chairman retired Justice Sadiq Hussain Bhatti, also issued a notice to the complainant, Dr Syed Raza Ali Gardezi, to appear before it to record his statement under Section 200 of the Criminal Procedure Code on Feb 11.

Mr Gardezi, the general secretary of Citizens for Environment, had filed a criminal complaint against Sepa’s former director general Baqaullah Unnar, incumbent DG Naeem Ahmed Mughal and others.

He also impleaded Mohammad Sami Qureshi, the owner of M/s Sami Builders, the proponent of the Shaz Residency project, and Asad Jahangir, the chief executive officer of M/s Marina Consultancy, as respondents.

The tribunal will take up the case on Feb 11

The complainant submitted through his counsel Farhat Ullah Rasheed that the then Sepa DG had granted the Initial Environmental Examination (IEE) approval in respect of Shaz Residency, a commercial-cum-residential project on a two-acre plot in Sector 15-A, Scheme 33.

He further submitted that the then DG granted the IEE approval for the project on Feb 22, 2018 without a public hearing on the impact of the project and without consultation of the relevant department.

The counsel stated that the action was in contravention of the provisions of the Sindh Environmental Protection Act, 2014 since any project proposed to be built on a piece of land measuring less than 2,000 square yards required the IEE approval from Sepa.

However, the Shaz Residency project comprising ground-plus 10 floors had been planned and launched on the piece of land measuring 9,600 square yards, which required an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) approval under the law, instead of the IEE, which was allegedly deliberately not done by the respondents, he added.

He said that the IEE approval granted for the project had been kept inaccessible by Sepa authorities for the general public since it was not being uploaded on the agency’s official website in violation of the relevant provisions of the act and Article 19-A of the Constitution as well as provisions of the Right to Information Act.

It was informed that the complainant on Jan 1, 2019 moved an application under the Right to Information Act requesting Sepa DG Mughal to share information as to how the approval for the project was granted under the IEE, whereas it required approval under the EIA, but he did not respond.

Subsequently, the complainant sent a notice to Sepa DG asking him to issue an Environmental Protection Order in terms of Section 21 of the act to order the builder to immediately halt the construction work at the site and impose penalties on the offender under Section 22 of the act, the counsel informed.

However, he complained that no legal action had been taken by the Sepa DG against the project and no inquiry was ordered against the officers involved in issuance of the IEE approval in violation of the law till date.

The court was asked to order the Sepa chief to cancel the IEE approval of the project after scrutinizing its record afresh. It was also requested to order an inquiry against Sepa officials allegedly involved in the issuance of such IEE approval.

Published in Dawn, February 6th, 2020