GUJRAT: The Lahore High Court (LHC) has issued a stay order against the acquisition of a piece of land for the construction of an expressway connecting Gujrat city with the Kharian-Sambrial motorway.

Justice Shahid Kareem of the LHC has ordered the Punjab government to maintain status quo till the next date of hearing, and directed to issue notices to the respondents for Jan 19, 2023.

The petitioner, Zeeshan Arif, alleged in his application through Advocate Waqar A. Sheikh that he was the legal co-owner of a piece of land measuring 11 kanal and 12 marla in Gorali village located along the GT Road where he and some of his family members had already started construction of their houses.

However, the highways department had imposed Section 4 of the Land Acquisition Act on their property on Oct 28, 2021 to utilise it for the construction of the 29-kilometre dual carriageway.

The petitioner prayed that the impugned order of land acquisition and construction work at the site be suspended until the final disposal of the main petition. He mentioned officers concerned of at least 19 authorities and departments as respondents in the petition.

The piece of land in question is supposed to be the starting point of the expressway from GT Road where construction work was launched after Chief Minister Chaudhry Parvez Elahi laid the foundation stone of the Rs9 billion project.

Earlier, the LHC had issued a stay order against various uplift schemes in Gujrat, including the establishment of a commissioner’s complex by cutting trees on state land in Machiana village and phase II of the industrial estate near Saroki, after some local farmers petitioned the high court.

Moreover, some farmers also obtained stay orders from a local court against the acquisition of their land for the establishment of a sports complex in Thatha Porr village.

Smart classroom: The University of Gujrat (UoG) Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Shabbar Atiq on Friday inaugurated a state-of-the-art ‘smart classroom’ at the varsity’s Mandi Bahauddin sub-campus.

The VC also attended a welcome ceremony held at the sub-campus for fresh students at the start of the new academic session.

UoG sub-campus Director Mian Zahiruddin Babar and his team welcomed the vice chancellor upon his arrival.

Dr Atiq expressed his satisfaction with the educational activities at the sub-campus.

Muhammad Abrar, coordinator of the Smart Classroom Project, executed at the cost of Rs15 million, in his briefing on the occasion said it was funded by the Higher Education Commission (HEC).

The VC expressed his resolve to utilise all available resources to provide the students with the latest facilities and advised the youth to prepare themselves for making a worthwhile contribution to the country’s progress and development.

The VC announced inclusion of a new bus into the current fleet of buses at the sub-campus for transportation of the students.

Published in Dawn, December 17th, 2022