KARACHI: A two-judge bench of the Sindh High Court on Wednesday suspended the stay order against construction on Bahria Town's project in Karachi's Clifton area and allowed the real estate firm to carry on with work on a flyover and two underpasses near the shrine of Abdullah Shah Ghazi.

DHA had filed a petition in the Sindh High Court on April 2 against the construction of the flyover and underpasses. The housing authority had alleged that the construction was being carried out without compliance with requirements listed in environmental protection laws and without the approval of concerned authorities.

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On April 29, SHC's Justice Munib Akhtar had allowed DHA's application and ordered that all construction in relation to the project be restrained and stopped immediately. The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) had also joined Bahria Town in the legal battle over the construction of the project on May 6 following the court's stay order.

Later in August, it emerged that the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) had approved the construction, even after the venture had drawn strong public reaction at a hearing and where its environmental impact assessment (EIA) report was rejected by a majority of the stakeholders.

On September 2, the court had reserved its judgment on the appeals of the real estate firm and the KMC against the restraining order of the SHC’s single bench after hearing arguments from the counsels of Bahria Town and DHA.

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Also in April this year, the single bench had granted a stay order against the construction of the project over a petition filed by a local neighbourhood resident but such interim order was later suspended by the SHC division bench on an appeal filed by Bahria Town.

Reacting to the court’s ruling, Ravi Dawani, the secretary general of the All Pakistan Hindu Panchayat said that underpasses and flyovers were the requirements of citizens but such construction would not be allowed at the expense of an endangered shrine.

He added that that the local Hindu community would hold protests if any damage was caused to the Shree Ratneswar Mahadev Temple situated in the vicinity of the construction site.