January 14, 2009	Wednesday	Muharram 16, 1430

KARACHI, Jan 13: The Sindh High Court on Tuesday directed the administrator of the Defence Housing Authority to submit a revised plan of the Gizri flyover till Jan 21 in a petition filed by residents of Defence against the construction.

Petitioner Salma Iqbal Chandrigar along with 12 other residents of Khayaban-i-Hafiz moved the court against the flyover’s construction from Submarine Chowrangi to Khayaban-i-Tanzeem on Gizri Road.

Their counsel, Omer Soomro, submitted that chief executive of the Clifton Cantonment Board/DHA administrator awarded a contract to M/s Nespak Pvt Ltd for the construction of 16-foot-high flyover to ease a traffic congestion in the area. The construction firm’s staff dug up the road 20 feet deep. He stated that no prior notice was issued to residents to seek their suggestion regarding the flyover’s construction and they were deprived of their legitimate right of being protected from nuisance, pollution, and other natural corollaries of commercialisation by the Defence Housing Authority in violation of the Environment Protection Act-2002. They prayed to the court that the construction be declared illegal, against the law while the Clifton Cantonment Board, DHA, Karachi Building Control Authority and City District Government Karachi may be restrained from carrying out the construction.

The counsel said that the DHA administrator be directed to file a revised plan of the flyover so that no environmental problems was caused as pointed out in a report of the Environmental Protection Authority on September 1, 2008.

An SHC division bench after hearing the arguments directed the administrator of the Defence Housing Authority to file the revised plan on the construction of the flyover.

Advocate Khalid Javed, who represented the DHA, assured the court that the plan would be submitted.

The matter was adjourned to January 22.—PPI