LAHORE: Lawyer Zeeshaan Zafar Hashmi is fighting the case of uprooting trees by the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) and the Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) at Walton without an environmental impact assessment (EIA).

In an interview with Dawn, Mr Hashmi revealed facts about the Lahore Center Business District Authority. On Nov 6, 2020, the Punjab government notified shifting of the Walton Aerodrome in Lahore to some other place to make a ‘Business District’ at its land. This decision was crystallized in the Lahore Central Business District Authority Ordinance, promulgated in February 2021, which later became the Lahore Central Business District Authority Act, 2021, passed by the Punjab Assembly in May 2021.

Mr Hashmi says that later on Feb 9, LDA and PHA officials illegally uprooted trees and plants of nurseries on the premises, leaving behind barren land.

Two of the nursery owners, Naveed Ahmad and Anwarul Haq, with as many flight instructors of the Lahore Flying Club, Usman Akram Uppal, and Babar Nawaz Raja, challenged the promulgation of the Business District Authority Ordinance, and the actions of the LDA and PHA before the Lahore High Court.

Mr Hashmi, on behalf of the clients, filed the case in early March.

He claims the provincial government cannot shift the aerodrome as aviation is regulated upon by the federal government.

Furthermore, the provincial government did not consult the elected local governments on the issue.

He said the law mandates that initial environmental examinations and EIAs be conducted before any housing or building construction projects are decided upon. These environmental requirements were not conducted leaving question marks on the legislation.

He said the Federal Ministry of Climate Change and the provincial Environment Protection Department have not even appeared before the court, which speaks volumes to how seriously the government is taking environmental issues.

About the livelihood of nursery owners and instructors at the Flying Club, Mr Hashmi said the livelihoods of the nursery owners and instructors at the Flying Clubs at the Walton Aerodrome have been virtually destroyed due to the recent actions of the government.

Mr Hashmi said his petition was reserved for judgment on April 8, as the Civil Aviation Authority undertook to not do anything to the Walton Aerodrome until a decision was made by the court. However, the next day, the federal government passed a notification denotifying the Walton Aerodrome.

On May 5, Uppal and Nawaz challenged the action through Mr Hashmi before the LHC wherein the court restrained the government from taking any action pursuant to the de-notification. However, he said, on May 24, the CAA stopped aviation training and flying activities at Walton.

The LHC dismissed responses by the federal government and the CAA regarding flight safety issues, noting that not a single accident has ever occurred in the nearly 100-year history of the Walton Aerodrome.

The LHC once again ordered the Federal government and Civil Aviation Authority to reopen flying at Walton on July 9 but flying has yet to be reopened.

Published in Dawn, August 8th, 2021