HYDERABAD: A division bench of the Sindh High Court, Hyderabad circuit, comprising Justice Munib Akhtar and Justice Anwar Hussain has allowed the application filed by the counsel for the Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC) asking the court to implead/add the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) as respondent in a constitutional petition, which challenges the construction of a dam in Thar Coal Project block-II in Islamkot, Mithi district.

The court allowed the application with consent of the petitioners’ counsel, Ayatullah Khowaja, who also sought to implead the Sindh wildlife department to be added as necessary party. Justice Akhtar asked him to file an application which would be examined by the court.

SECMC counsel Mayhar Kazi contended before the court that the petitioners’ counsel had filed a rejoinder in which some new points were raised, which were not part of the petition as the petition’s contents were too generalised in nature.

He requested the court to allow him to file a surrejoinder in response to one filed by Mr Khowaja. Sher Ali Rizvi appeared on behalf of the Sindh Coal Authority (SCA) and Barrister Salman Mirza represented the contractor, ie the Balochistan Construction Company and both sought copy of the petition. Mr Khowaja filed his rejoinder in response to counter affidavit filed by the SECMC.

In the rejoinder, the petitioners’ counsel said that the environmental impact assessment (EIA) study was not in respect of environmental impacts of the project at Gurano so work was being done sans meeting provisions of Sepa 2014 Act.

The respondent concealed the fact that initially in violation of Sepa Act 2014 they obtained approval under initial environmental examination (IEE) and commenced construction in May 2015 which had to be stopped after community’s protest. Then respondent was forced to submit the environmental impact assessment (EIA) and got it approved clandestinely, he added.

He said that the EIA’s approval was conditional. Out of 37.5km pipeline of saline water reservoir, 28.6km is located in Rann of Kutch Wildlife Sanctuary, a declared wildlife sanctuary under Aug 17,1980’s notification thus disposal of effluent and laying pipeline violate the Sindh Wildlife Protection Ordinance 1972.

Respondents failed to mitigate adverse environmental effects. Only half of effluent would evaporate and remaining would be environmentally hazardous and conditions under Septa’s approval are not complied with to date, he said.

SECMC, in counter-affidavit, said that the petition was liable to be dismissed. It said, a committee formed by the Sepa director general asked the SCA to submit water quality analysis which was done in Nov 2015, addressing all concerns of committee and those raised at public hearing. On analysis’s basis Sepa accorded approval on Feb 10, 2016 for pipeline and two reservoir sites.

It added that 50 cusecs effluent disposal scheme (EDS) was an essential component of Thar Coal and Mining Block-II and power generation project worth $2bn and no dam was being built by the SECMC.

For storing subsoil water extracted prior to commencement of mining, 37 km pipeline was being laid under EDS and two areas of natural depression at Gorano and Dukkar Cho were earmarked along its path as natural reservoirs. These sites did not require special construction except some for banks for safe storage, it said.

It claimed that these were carefully selected sites as some were not feasible due to inadequate capacity, some had potential to become subject of cross border tensions with India and others were dropped for Sepa related concerns. Earlier, a natural salt lake called ‘Trisingri Dhand’ was selected in 2014 but it was a proposed site for Ramsar Treaty and connected to Rann of Katch Wetlands close to Indian border. Use of such sites would lead to breach of obligations under convention of wetland of which Pakistan is a signatory, it said.

It said that unless subsoil water was removed, coal extraction could not take place and the extraction of groundwater was in line with international mining practices and it was a misstatement that the SECMC was seeking to build a dam.

It denied the petitioners’ assertion that area of reservoir at Gorano was 2,700 acres, saying in fact it was 1,400 acres and land belonging to petitioners did not fall within 1,400 acres at Gorano. Petition is replete with misstatements and is premised on statements of a local politician. Work on up to 37km pipeline is already completed on 18km area and petitioners didn’t submit any technical study, mentioning adverse impacts on environment, it said.

It informed that extracted groundwater would be saline but it won’t contain coal or chemically possessed or mixed with pollutants as alleged in the petition.

Once power plant gets operational in 2018, more than 75 per cent of water would be used to meet requirements of power plant and small fraction of it would be directed towards Dukkar Cho reservoir. Gorano reservoir would no longer be required for storage as water remaining there would evaporate. It said that coal mining and power project is part of China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) and is the biggest public-private partnership project of CPEC initiative.

Published in Dawn, August 4th, 2016