GUJRAT: A four-member commission constituted by the Lahore High Court (LHC) inspected the proposed site for the establishment of a divisional complex of the newly created Gujrat division at Machiana village on Monday.

The LHC has already issued a stay against execution of the project after the farmers and locals of the village filed a writ petition seeking stoppage of the project on the basis of a possible damage to the environment of the area.

The petitioners alleged that there was a forest and water channel on the proposed site as a siphon of Upper Jhelum Canal was also located right in front of the proposed site that was mainly a state land, measuring around 90 acres.

Justice Shahid Kareem of the LHC had constituted a commission, comprising Hina Hafeezullah Ishaq and Syed Kamali Ali advocates (already members of water and environmental commission of the LHC), Dr Masood Arshad, the senior director of WWF Pakistan, and Ali Hassan Habib, the managing director of International Grown Centre, who had been tasked with visiting and inspecting the site in Gujrat.

The representatives of forest, irrigation, environment, land revenue, the district administration and some locals of Machiana village were also present during the inspection of the site by the commission members.

As per the orders of the LHC, the commission and the chief secretary would submit their reports on the true state of affairs on ground.

Official sources said the proposed site comprised the state land owned by the irrigation department that had handed it over to the forest department a long time back and a protected jungle had been developed at the land.

A piece of private land, measuring around 189 Kanals, adjacent to the state land has also been identified for acquisition for its use in the project whereas a sum of Rs8.9bn had been sanctioned by the Punjab government for the phase I of the complex.

The Infrastructure Development Authority of Punjab (IDAP) is yet to initiate the work at the site.

The LHC had fixed Dec 21 as the next date of hearing.

Published in Dawn, December 13th, 2022