KARACHI: A public hearing scheduled for June 9 by the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa) has earned considerable flak from civil society activists, who have demanded that the department immediately cancel the gathering.

They claimed that the project was already under construction and the hearing was an ‘eye-wash’ that Sepa wanted to indulge in to facilitate the project executors.

The public hearing pertains to a water supply scheme for coal power plants and public utilization in Tharparkar district.

The public-private partnership project involves the irrigation department and M/s Enertech Water Pvt Ltd.

Speaking to Dawn, Mohammad Ali Shah of the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum demanded legal action against the project executors “as 50 per cent construction work has already been completed at the site’.

Sepa is asked to take action against irrigation dept for carrying out project work without getting NOC

“The irrigation department has carried out construction without getting a no-objection certificate from Sepa. Instead of taking legal action under the Sindh Environmental Protection Act 2014, Sepa is facilitating the irrigation department in fulfilling a formality of the EIA [environmental impact assessment] process, which is nothing but a sham exercise.”

Second, he argued, the May 22 public notice on the hearing was published only in an English-language newspaper during Eid holidays, which violated citizens’ fundamental rights.

“The whole process initiated by Sepa defeats the very purpose of a public hearing. The notice should have been published in Sindhi-language newspapers so that people in this rural area get information about the event.

“Apparently, the department gave 19-day time to stakeholders to go through the environmental impact assessment (EIA) report of the project. But, actually only 12 days were given as all government offices, including Sepa’s, were closed from May 22 to May 27,” Mr Shah argued.

The EIA report was not available at Sepa’s regional office even after May 27.

According to Sepa’s regulations, the date fixed for a public hearing must not be earlier than 15 days from the date of publication of the notice.

Public gathering likely to increase Covid risk

He also spoke of the coronavirus threat that participants may likely be exposed to at a public gathering and said majority of the people would not attend it due to fear of the virus. “In this particular case, Sepa is acting against the government directives on public gatherings.”

Raising similar concerns in a legal notice, which has been served to Sepa, senior lawyer Zubair Ahmed Abro, has asked the department to postpone the June 9 public hearing.

“In case you do not postpone void public hearing, and continue with the same, then please consider this letter as our notice under 2014 Act, of taking this matter to the Sindh Environmental Protection Tribunal.”

The notice also highlights several flaws in the EIA report to be presented in the June 9 hearing and says, “Sepa has not fulfilled its mandatory duty of placing a complete and correct EIA report before the public for participating in the EIA review process. Placing incomplete EIA report before the public amounts to infringement of their fundamental rights guaranteed under Article 9 and 19A of the Constitution.”

When contacted, Sepa’s deputy director-technical Imran Sabir defended the department’s decision to hold the hearing and said the department would ensure compliance with all standard operating procedures against Covid-19 threat at the hearing.

“People wouldn’t be allowed to crowd and provided with hand sanitizers and face masks,” he said, adding that the prime minister had instructed to carry out development projects.

According to him, the department has inquired into the project’s status and was informed that it hasn’t been started yet. “But, we have sent a letter to the irrigation department on this matter as it’s the custodian of the project.”

He rejected concerns on the publication of the notice during Eid holidays.

Published in Dawn, June 7th, 2020