Daily Times

Civil society organisations and various individuals have welcome the order passed by the Lahore High Court on December 31, 2020 in which the Ravi Urban Development Authority (RUDA) was restrained from commencing any works in relation to its Ravi Riverfront Development Project until the approvals are granted by the EPA, Punjab, regarding the environment impact assessment of the project.

“The Ravi Urban Development Authority Act passed by Punjab Assembly and notified in August 2020 has only recently established the RUDA and confers onto it wide and unfettered powers to develop the project. We understand the project envisages the channelization of the River Ravi, building 3 barrages along the 46 km length of the project, and will cover over one hundred thousand acres,” they said in a statement. The right to a clean and healthy environment is the Fundamental Right of every individual of Pakistan. The Punjab Environment Protection Act, 1997 requires proponents of projects “likely to cause adverse environmental impact” to obtain environmental approval of their project’s environment impact assessment (EIA) from the EPA, Punjab before “commencement of construction of operation” of their project. “We are surprised at reports that RUDA has commenced some works in relation to the project and has not, as of 30 December 2020, even submitted an EIA to the EPA, Punjab for approval.”

Under the EIA approval process, not only will the EPA, Punjab examine the environmental impacts and mitigation plans of the project, but the general public and stakeholders have the statutory right to be provided full details regarding the design of the project, to be informed and consulted on the potential environmental and social impacts of the project and how those impacts will be addressed in the design, construction and operation phase of the project, to participate in a public hearing of the EIA of the project and to be satisfied that the concerns expressed by them in the public hearing are appropriately addressed by RUDA. “We believe addressing these concerns and conducting a public hearing in an open and transparent manner are important and necessary for protecting the Fundamental Right to a clean and healthy environment, meeting the requirements of the law and ensuring the environmental and social sustainability of the project.”

The ecosystem of the River Ravi Basin has been irreparably damaged by construction of storage dams in India and by untreated discharge of polluted water into it by the cities of Lahore, Sialkot, Gujranwala and Faisalabad. “We believe any project along the banks of the Ravi should seek to revitalize its ecosystem, and concretising it with walls and barrages amounts to action against the whole concept of protecting the environment. Rivers are living entities and their waters must be kept clean and they should be allowed to flow along their natural routes. To this end, we believe the Ravi floodplain can store plentiful amounts of water; that the Ravi floodplain should be spared for water restoration and ecosystem revitalization and not for infrastructure development; and that the Ravi floodplain may be declared a National Park protected by law. The Lahore High Court order has ensured our rights as citizens are properly considered and the rights of the environment respected.”