Petition against construction of divisional complex: LHC declares district collector’s notification as ultra vires of law

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on account of failure to submit the Initial Environment Examination (IEE) declared a notification of district collector Gujrat as ultra vires of law issued for the construction of a divisional complex in a forest area.

The court said the respondents would have alternate proposals for the setting up of a divisional headquarters complex on land which does not require the acquisition of agricultural and forest land. The court passed this order on a petition of Shah Jahan of Gujrat who approached the court against the acquisition of the land for the construction of the project in question.

The site is situated at Mauza Machhiana and Samman Pindi along the upper Jhelum canal and has extensively been planted by the forest department now fully grown-up as mature trees.

The court said it would be an egregious act of insensibility to cut down mature trees on land consisting of over 702 Kanal which is also a critical flood mitigation facility that has been preserved to prevent loss and damage to the upper Jhelum canal and 17 upstream villages and therefore needs to remain intact and un-tempered.

The Environmental Protection Authority (EPA) categorically stated in its report that the scheme falls in Schedule-I of the Review of IEE/Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Regulations 2000. Hence, the respondents are supposed to submit an IEE report for the project to obtain environmental approval as required under Section 12 of the Punjab Environmental Protection Act, 1997.

The respondent has not submitted IEE/ EIA which is a sine qua non and no project can be initiated or commenced for construction unless prior approval has been granted by EPA under the law, the report added.

The commission’s members constituted by the court also made visual observations regarding mature trees, ponds, wetlands, and marshy areas, which is the true representation of a forest.

The entire population of the adjoining villages was also against the proposed project, the report said. It further stated in the report that the surrounding area is fertile land for multipurpose cropping which ensures food security for the local population, the commission added.

The commission also commented that the district administration ignored the provisions of various statutes and laws as also policies and regulations formulated over the years, the court added.

The court said according to the recommendations of the commission, the site was not feasible for the construction of the project in question.

The court said the respondent’s departments have also failed to establish facts that would justify the setting up of the project on an area that comprises agricultural and forest land.

The respondents have no reasonable cause to change the nature of forest land and carry out construction for setting up of a divisional headquarter, the court added.

Unless the measure is absolutely necessary in the national interest which takes priority over all other interests, no agricultural land and forest land can be acquired to set up any infrastructure project, the court concluded.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023