June 01, 2008	Sunday	Jamadi-ul-Awwal 26, 1429

KARACHI, May 31: Finding the Defence Housing Authority’s standpoint on continuing development activities in some portions of its proposed waterfront project unconvincing, the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) has asked it to undertake a comprehensive environmental impact assessment (EIA) and till then put the construction activity on hold.

Sources in the environmental watchdog said the DHA believed that some projects pertaining to the development of huge physical structures for commercial purposes by a private party in “Zone E” of its waterfront development projects had been undertaken fully in line with the environmental laws of the land and Sepa had already granted a no-objection certificate for it against an Initial Environment Examination (IEE) report submitted in January.

About a month back, Sepa, taking notice of certain activities undertaken by private developers as part of DHA’s waterfront development project (WDP), had issued a notice, asking it to explain within two weeks as to why a condition in the approval given by it to the IEE report pertaining to a concept plan of the WDP had been violated and why an EIA was not submitted for Sepa’s approval.

The agency had referred to a condition of the IEE approval (which) and said that the approval was being granted for the concept plan of the WDP and any upcoming projects as a result of the approval would require an environmental approval in the shape of IEE or EIA, depending on their impact’s severity, a requirement of the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act, 1997 and IEE/EIA regulations 2000.

Following the Sepa letter, it is said, the DHA administration had also had a meeting with the chief secretary of Sindh and the secretary of the Sindh environment department and maintained that the DHA was strictly following the rules and the development undertaken by a foreign party in the name of the ‘bay project’ was not any deviation from the conditions prescribed by Sepa in its letter of Feb 15.

According to the DHA plan, “Zone E”, one of the seven zones conceptualized under WFD located along the south-west coastline, will have a cluster of high-rise buildings, including a five-star hotel, tourist resort, high-rise residential complex, vocational dwellings, mosque, clubhouse, residential estate, retail outlets and green areas and a desalination/power plant. The hotel proposed will have its own private segments of beach and all facilities of a modern hotel.

The WFD project, which is a 14-kilometre-long stretch from Sindbad (old Casino) to the Golf Course along the coast, in the whole envisages a multi-spectral land use patterns in which residential, commercial and recreational sites will be developed.

No dredging activity will be carried out during reclamation. The land reclamation shall be done by depositing new soil, which would be acquired from an inland quarry site, says a DHA document.

A fresh communication sent to the DHA by Sepa Director-General Ali Ahmad Lund said the reply received from the housing authority against Sepa’s notice of April 30 was not satisfactory and it was now essential that construction in the WDP be stopped until the proceedings required under the relevant laws were completed.

Fearing that the project being developed and built may have many adverse environmental effects on the country’s ecology, Sepa has once again cited condition no 6, and also pointed out condition no 7, which leads to the cancellation of approval to the WDP concept plan issued vide a letter on Feb 15, the Sepa source added.

After receiving detailed reports covering scientific, micro-environmental, macro-environmental, social and economic aspects of the WDF and entitlement of lands involved, Sepa will arrange a public hearing and frame a set of environmental management plans and guidelines on mitigation measures for the DHA or the private developers, prior to giving environmental clearance, it was learnt.

In the meantime, the DCO of Karachi had also been asked to prepare a report on the DHA beach project for submission to the Sindh chief minister.

The CM had sought a report on the project on May 3, following which the DHA administrator and the Sepa DG were requested by the DCO office on May 6 to provide a detailed report on a priority basis.

As a follow-up to the CM’s directive, Sepa director Naeem Ahmad Mughal has informed his superiors in the Sindh environment department and Sepa that the DHA had launched a ‘huge construction project’ in the name of bay project without conducting EIA, said a source.

The director said the construction of the project would lead to adverse impact on the environment if proper mitigation measures were not undertaken.