Ravi Riverfront Urban Development Project: LHC stays acquisition of agricultural land

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Friday stayed acquisition of agricultural land for Ravi Riverfront Urban Development Project till March 02 and directed the office to club all identical petitions for further proceedings.

Representing a public interest petition, Sheraz Zaka argued before the court that the government deprived the farmers of their precious land by violating the acquisition laws.

The counsel said compulsory acquisition of the agricultural land could pose food security threats in future. He pointed out that a vast chunk of agricultural land was being converted for the benefit of property developers.

The court observed that a similar situation had also been witnessed across the border in India where farmers were protesting against the government.

The lawyer said under section 4 of Land Acquisition Act 1890, the government was supposed to disclose any public purpose of the riverfront project.

He pointed out that in all other interconnected petitions the LHC had already stayed work on the project with a direction to the provincial government to appoint an international consultant to prepare the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the project. The other day, the court had directed the government to engage an international consultant for the EIA of the project.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021