QUETTA: The environmental protection tribunal of the Balochistan High Court has issued a notice to the Chinese company working on a proposed coal-fired power plant in Hub.

The notice was issued during the hearing of a petition filed by Mohammad Aslam Bhootani, a former speaker of the Balochistan Assembly.

Mr Bhootani has argued that the power plant — being constructed under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor at an estimated cost of $2 billion — would damage the environment and prove harmful for marine life and the human settlements along the coast of Gadani.

The 1,320-megawatt plant is being built by the China Power Hub Generation Com­pany, a joint venture of the Hub Power Company (Hu­bco) and the China Power Inter­national Hold­ing Ltd (CPIH).

After hearing arguments of Mr Bhootani’s counsel Khurshid Ahmed Khoso, the tribunal — comprising its chairman Zafar Alam Mandokhel and members Imtiaz Ahmed and Dr Saeed Ahmed Baloch — issued a notice to the CPIH and asked it to submit its reply in the next hearing.

Published in Dawn, August 17th, 2017