HYDERABAD, April 17 The Hyderabad circuit bench of the Sindh High Court on Thursday directed the project director of the RBOD-II to appear in person before the court and bring with him record of the original project cost (PC-I) of the drain on a petition challenging change in the drain's alignment.

The division bench comprising Justice Amir Hani Muslim and Justice Mohammad Iqbal Mahar directed the additional registrar to engage a private expert by next date of hearing on April 21 to assist the court with regard to the drain project.

The bench asked the counsel to satisfy it on change in alignment of the RBOD-II near Kalri Baghar (KB) feeder on a question raised by Jhematmal Jethanand, counsel for petitioners Mushtaq Shoro and others.

Jethanand said that the respondents were excavating the drain on the left side of KB feeder although it was to be excavated on its right side according to PC-I.

The court asked Jagdesh Mullani, project director of RBOD-II, as to whether any deviation had been made from PC-I of the project but he did not answer the question and instead requested the court to allow him to place his case before the bench.

The court observed that it wanted to know first as to whether any deviation in any way had been made by authorities concerned or not.

“We are not satisfied with the reply,” the bench said and ordered the project director to appear in person on the next date of hearing with a definite answer as to whether deviation of any nature had been made by authorities from PC-I.

The court directed the additional registrar to engage a private expert to assist the court on the case and noted that the respondent federal secretary for planning and development and respondent director general of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Sindh had not filed comments though the petition had been filed in 2007.

The court issued notices to the two respondents to file comments by next hearing. Petitioners Mushtaq Shoro, Mohammad Sharif Chaudhry, Essa Khan and Hameeduddin Arain had filed the constitutional petition, citing federal secretary for planning and development, Sindh secretary of irrigation, project director of RBOD, director general of EPA and deputy district officer as respondents.

The petitioners are residents, landowners and cultivators of the 15-kilometre long around one kilometre wide green belt situated in dehs of Khanpur, Kotri and Karokhao, Kotri taluka.

They said that the district headquarters of Jamshoro, railway station's marshalling yards and 17 villages with a population of 100,000 were on the green belt. Besides, thousands of acres of fertile land, mango orchards and other trees, two Eidgahs, seven schools and 45 watercourses, they said.

They said that industrial and domestic waste of upper Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab was being discharged into Manchhar Lake since 1976 which had disastrous destroyed flora and fauna and rendered lake's water poisonous.

They said that the DDO acquired lands for the RBOD as per alignment given in PC-I but in 2002-03 without any approval and in collusion with influential people whose lands fell within the original alignment, the respondents threatened to excavate RBOD on the green belt on the left side of the feeder.

They said that the change in alignment would seriously hit the population, agriculture and environment of green belt and contaminate underground water.

They said that the respondents proposed increase in drain's discharge up to 6,500 cusec, which if would engulf the entire green belt.

They said that the DG of EPA was a silent spectator and excavation of RBOD and changes in alignment were being made without his approval.

They prayed the court to declare change in alignment and excavation of the drain as unlawful and restrain the respondents from laying the drain in their areas.