Daily Times

There was once a park in Lahore that was an effervescent hub of life. Young people and children would play sports there and families would come for walks and picnics. That park is now a barren, abandoned construction site. It is no longer a patch of green to come to when the residents of the surrounding area need to escape the noise and pollution of the city. It is a useless, concrete eyesore caught in legal purgatory — a symbol of the government’s disregard for the needs of the citizen and the environment. During the PML-Q government in Punjab, the Pakistan Entertainment Company set up by that government decided that a plaza containing an IMAX theatre and other commercial enterprises would be a better use of the land than a public park. The residents of Gulberg who live around the park filed a petition in the Lahore High Court (LHC) with the help of an NGO, Shehri-Citizens for Better Environment in 2006 but the case has still not been resolved. Although the court ruled in the petitioner’s favour on August 8, 2006, the stay order was later removed by a different LHC bench. Then the Supreme Court restored the stay order and demanded that the LHC form a larger bench to hear this case. In 2010, then Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif approved the construction of the plaza once again and sought permission from the court. Finally, a full bench of the LHC declared the project illegal in 2011.

However, a parking lot was built under Doongi Ground after the first stay order was revoked, in violation of the Disposal of Land by Development Authorities Act, 1988. Amidst this legal confusion, the residents have lost their park. While the justice of the courts moves sluggishly, the Punjab government (then and now) moves quickly, expediting construction if there is even a whiff of resistance. This week, the petitioners brought up the case again and asked that the court order the government to halt construction on the parking plaza that is being built on Doongi Ground. The court has sought a response within 15 days from the related authorities. The court had also issued a notice last March to LDA but to no avail. Doongi Ground needs to be returned to its original state. But even that is not enough. This case must set a precedent that the government cannot bulldoze parks in its rampage of uncontrolled commercialisation. The courts must take note of this blatant disregard of the law and must do so consistently and expediently in all such cases. *