Environmental laws: EPD asked to address bus project violations

A complaint has been filed with the Environmental Protection Department citing violations of the Punjab Environmental Protection Act of 2012 by the government in the construction of the Bus Rapid Transit System project.

The complaint was filed to EPD Director General Maqsood Lak by Akhtar Awan, an environmental lawyer who runs Eco Green, a consultancy firm. He said in the complaint that the project was not sustainable in the long run.

He said that the elevated BRTS track threatened the scenic beauty of various areas and would result in a fall in property prices.

He said that proposals made at the public hearing of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report for the project for expanded footpaths and separate lanes for motorcycles and rickshaws had been ignored. He said after the EIA public hearing, an EPD team is supposed to do a survey and prepare a public inspection report reviewing the feasibility of the suggestions made at the public hearing.

He said that this had not been done with the BRTS. He said that a second public hearing should have been called immediately when the project plan was altered, but this had not happened.

Awan said that construction material and asphalt mixing equipment used in the construction was being stored at public parks. He said residents of The Mall and Riwaz Garden Housing Society, situated between MAO College and Chauburji, had been unable to use the park near the Planetarium.

He said the BRTS construction site between the Lower Mall and Mozang had still not been cordoned off. Big ditches had been left uncovered and these caused a number of accidents, several of them fatal. There had also been a rise in pollution since the project began. No public safety measures were in effect, he said.

Awan said he wanted to take the case to the environment tribunal, rather than the green bench of the Lahore High Court, as he expected the tribunal to be more sympathetic towards environmental concerns.

He said that Ahmed Rafay Alam, another environmental lawyer, had sought a stay order on the construction of the Kalma Chowk flyover because no EIA had been conducted.

“But the court allowed its construction, declaring it to be in larger interest of the public. I fear the same thing would happen if I take the case to the LHC,” he said. He added that the BRTS construction was in violation of Sections 12 and 16 of the PEPA.

An EPD official said that if a private person filed a complaint with the department that was not addressed within 30 days, the person could move the environmental tribunal.

The complaint has been forwarded to Naseemur Rahman Shah, the EIA director at the EPD. Shah said that he had asked District Officer (Environment) Azhar Iqbal to compile a report in response to Awan’s complaints. He said it was the DO’s job to track the environment hazards posed by large-scale projects.

Finally LHC allows govt to purchase 100 buses for Lahore

Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday allowed the government to open tenders for the purchase of 100 Euro-II compliant diesel buses for the Metropolitan Bus System (MBS). The government had sought to purchase 1,200 such buses.

The order was issued on an application filed by the government to vacate the stay order granted by Justice Ijazul Ahsan on a petition by a private transport company challenging the tender.

On September 3, Justice Ahsan had restrained the government from opening bids to purchase 1,200 Euro-II diesel compliant buses on a writ petition moved by Gujranwala City Tours through Advocate Tafazzul H Rizvi.

On Friday, Advocate General Ashtar Ausaf Ali, the transport secretary and some representatives of oil refineries appeared before the court.

Ausaf Ali said the government wanted to import 200 Euro-II diesel compliant buses for colleges and universities and 100 for the MBS within three months.

He said the stay order was stopping the government from completing the import of 100 buses.

He asked the court to allow the government to open bids for procuring 100 Euro-II diesel buses since the petitioner had no issue with the purchase of buses for the MBS.

Transport Secretary Captain (retired) Muhammad Yousaf told the court Euro-I compliant diesel buses were causing environmental pollution while Euro-II compliant diesel buses would not do so.

The PARCO representative said they had ample stock of Euro-II diesel for supply on demand.

However, representatives of PSO and Attock Oil Refinery said they did not produce the required grade of diesel.

The counsel for the petitioner said PARCO had only 166 of the 4,100 petrol pumps in the province, most of them in Lahore.

Justice Ijazul Ahsan recorded the arguments and granted the governments’ request to be allowed to open bids for the purchase of 100 Euro-II buses. The court adjourned further hearing till September 17.

The petitioner had contended the government wanted to purchase 1,200 Euro-II compliant diesel buses, which would be given to operators, potentially including the petitioner on against soft term mortgages.

BRTS Buses: LHC turns down Government Plea challenging Stay Order

The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Wednesday turned down a petition by the government challenging a stay order issued against opening bids to purchase 1,200 Euro II compliant diesel buses.

A law officer representing the government said Euro II compliant diesel was available in Pakistan.

He said the stay order meant that the government would not be able to purchase buses for the Metro Bus Service (MBS) in time. He asked the court to vacate the stay order.

However, Justice Ijazul Ahsan dismissed the plea and summoned an oil company representative on September 17 to provide a report on the availability of the required fuel.

On September 3, the judge had restrained the provincial government from opening bids for the purchase of 1,200 diesel buses.

The petition was moved by Gujranwala City Tours. The petitioner said the government was planning to purchase the buses and hand them over to operators against a soft terms loan.

He said Euro II compliant diesel was not available in the province and oil refineries had stated they would be unable to produce it in the near future.

He said the government had earlier purchased CNG buses which too are not operating three-days a week due to non-availability of CNG.

Design related BRTS - Update

Sabir Khan Sadozai, the project director for the Muslim Town flyover, said that the repair of the service roads had initially been delayed because the Water and Sanitation Agency had to lay a sewage line. Then the Traffic Engineering and Transport Planning Agency (TEPA) stopped the repairs as the final design of the elevated bus lane for the Metro Bus Service, being drawn up by the National Engineering Services of Pakistan (NESPAK), had not arrived. “Otherwise we could have had a situation where we finished the reconstruction of the road but TEPA had to break sections of it again to lay piers for the elevated bus lane,” he said.

Sadozai said that the design of the bus lane had been received from NESPAK last week and they had started the road works. He said that WASA still had some work to finish, namely to raise the height of gutter necks on Wahdat Road and Ferozepur Road so that the manholes were at the same level as the road. He said that work on the service lane around FC College and the 1122 office would be finished in a few days. He said some sections of the road would not be repaired until after the bus lane is finished.

Asked why the design of the bus lane for the MBS project had been changed and delayed, TEPA Director Mazhar Hussain, who is in charge of the construction, said that the decision had been made to avoid the expense and hassle of having to acquire land for a ground-level bus lane.

Green Card scheme for Students to launch in 6 more cities

Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said on Monday that the Student Green Card Scheme, launched in Lahore, had been started to provide affordable travelling facilities to students.

He said the scheme would be launched in six more cities from the first week of August.

He was presiding over a meeting held with regard to the Student Green Card Scheme on Monday. Special Assistant Zaeem Hussain Qadri, Lahore Transport Company chairman Khawaja Ahmed Hassan, Punjab Information Technology Board Chairman Dr Omer Saif, Higher Education and Schools secretaries and other officers attended the meeting.

The chief minister said the Punjab government was pursuing a comprehensive strategy for providing education facilities and equipping students with education.

He said launching the Green Card Scheme for providing concessionary travelling facilities to students was a step in this direction. He said after Lahore, Student Green Card Schemes would be launched in Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Multan, Gujranwala, Sialkot and Bahawalpur in August. He directed that a plan with regard to launching Green Card Schemes, fixing fares, provision of buses and their routes be submitted to him within two days.

The chief executive officer of Lahore Transport Company said as many as 28,000 students had gone to the website on the first day of the launch of the scheme. He said the district government would also issue cards in other cities.

He said, initially, the Lahore Transport Company would print 50 cards for each city while the district government would print the remaining green cards. He said students wanting a green card should submit their application forms at their colleges.

The colleges will send these forms to the concerned DCO office, he said.

The DCO’s office will send the cards back to the colleges from where the students can pick them up.

He said the Punjab Information Technology Board will launch a website for the convenience of students of other districts.

Diesel-run BRTS may turn a public nightmare

Plying diesel-run buses on the dedicated track, most of it elevated, in one of the most polluted portions of the city is expected to invite criticism from the public, sections of which are already resisting acquisition of land for the project.

The authorities at the helm of affairs have already succumbed to the pressure by the Ferozepur Road traders who had said a big ‘No’ to the idea of sharing their land for the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) track that was to be built in the middle of the thoroughfare. In view of the refusal, the authorities have now planned to extend the elevated track from Ferozepur Road’s canal inter-section to Bhati instead of the earlier Qartaba Chowk to Bhati Gate area.

The plan to use the Government College University (GCU) property for the project is also drawing criticism from the varsity’s faculty, students and the alumni who have vowed to foil any such attempt come what may.

The varsity administration has written letters to the chief secretary and the chief minister asking them to withdraw the decision to use property of the esteemed historic educational institution for the BRTS. The Old Ravian Union has also threatened to make a human chain if their alma mater gets affected by the project.

The Ittehad Bainul Muslimeen, a religious body, is also opposing the project. It has displayed posters on the Lower Mall saying it would resist the elevated bus track as it was tantamount to desecrating Karbala Gamey Shah and the nearby shrine of the patron saint of Lahore, Hazrat Data Ganj Bakhsh.

Responding to a query by this reporter, Transport Secretary Muhammad Yousuf revealed that diesel-run buses would be plied on the dedicated track.

When he was asked as to how the government would ensure uninterrupted CNG supply to these buses, especially in view of demand from different quarters to divert the gas towards industry and energy production, the secretary said an appeal had been filed in a court seeking directions for provision of gas to the buses to be run in other Punjab cities. So far as Lahore was concerned there would be diesel buses, he said.

And when asked about the environmental impact of the diesel-run buses, he said they would be ‘environment-friendly’. He, however, kept mum when asked how people, especially those living in the congested residential-cum-commercial areas like Lytton Road, would breath after the elevated track goes functional.

Mr Yousuf and Mr Sibtain Fazle Haleem, a retired top bureaucrat recently engaged for the project, say that major stakeholders –the people of the areas falling under the project, were consulted before its launch. The secretary said that an advertisement was placed in newspapers to seek public opinion on the proposed project.

The secretary had no answer to the question as to why the GCU administration was kept in the dark about the plan to use the varsity land for the project.

The secretary said all paperwork, including viability reports, PC-I and environment report were prepared before launching the project. His claim is contested by many in the government service and otherwise.Mr Yousuf and Mr Haleem said there was no undue haste in executing the project and they did not know when it would be completed.

The pace of work on the city roads, nevertheless, suggests that someone is in a hurry if they both are not

BRTS between Yateem Khanna & S-Mor

Repair of Multan Road’s Section 3, Phase-2  – from Scheme Mor to Chauburji- may begin this month, Project Director Sabir Khan Sadozai said on Tuesday.

The work originally scheduled to begin on the completion of widening and improvement of the road from Thokhar Niaz Beg to Scheme Mor in October 2011, was brought to a halt by lack of funds.

Sadozai said the government has now approved Rs873 million for a scaled down project.

Talking about a tentative date for the initiation of the project, Sadozai said, it was still early to say when road work could start as Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) and the Revenue Department had yet to submit their assessment of the revised project. He said the reports were likely to be available in two weeks.

Sources in Project Management Unit (PMU) claim that carpeting of the road will not cause traffic congestion. ]

While the road will only be repaired for the time being, PMU officials say Rs300 million will be required if the government decides to expand it.

Work to improve and repair Multan Road began in October 2009.

The 7.3 km road from Thokar Niaz Beg to Scheme Mor (Section 1) was completed in October 2011 at a cost of Rs1.5 billion out of the Rs2,13 billion allocated for the whole project.

Sewer line

Work on a 72-inch wide and 40-foot deep sewerage line on the road has been started at a cost of Rs1.43 billion. It is meant to address sewerage problems in Canal View Society, Azam Garden and Mustafa Town.

Pre-planning for the BRTS

The renovation of the 3.7 kilometres road will be followed by installation of pillars for a Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) running from Chowk Yateem Kahana to Samanbad Mor.

Commissioner Jawad Rafique Malik told The Express Tribune that BRTS will be run from Thokar Niaz Beg till Scheme Mor on a road corridor and from Scheme Mor to Chauburji on an elevated lane.

Communication and Works Chief Engineer Munawwar Bashir toldThe Tribune that up to 15-foot land will be acquired at some places along the stretch.

He said that the Water and Sanitation Agency will expand the adjacent drain from 1.8 metres to 4.5 metres for installation of pillars for the bridge.