LAHORE: The Lahore High Court on Wednesday directed the authorities concerned to relocate trees, instead of trimming and cutting them, for the construction of an electric bus depot in Green Town.

Justice Shahid Karim was hearing multiple petitions related to smog and other environmental issues.

Advocate General of Punjab (AGP) Khalid Ishaq also appeared before the court with updated reports on the government actions to reduce smog, including planting of new trees and the installation of pollution monitoring equipment.

The judge commended the government’s efforts to address the smog issue, suggesting the formulation of a policy to limit the market hours and wedding ceremonies’ timings.

He remarked that joint efforts by the government and the court resulted in pleasant weather, with bright sunshine visible nowadays.

He cautioned against reopening markets indiscriminately, saying it could deteriorate the environment again.

He said the government should carefully devise a well-integrated policy on market timings to bring a positive societal change.

He warned against abrupt restrictions, which could cause inconvenience to the public.

He also emphasised the importance of preserving trees that are beneficial to the environment.

The AGP assured the court that a detailed report would be submitted at the next hearing about the trees felled for the construction of the electric bus depot.

He said details of initiatives to conserve groundwater would also be submitted at the next hearing.

The judge adjourned the hearing till Dec 13.

Ex-senator held: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) on Wednesday arrested former senator Waqar Ahmad Khan, the owner of Pak Arab Housing Society, following the rejection of his protective bail petition by the Lahore High Court.

Waqar approached the court seeking protective bail for one day in the NAB reference as his petition for pre-arrest bail was already dismissed the other day. However, he evaded arrest by the NAB.

A two-judge bench comprising Justice Farooq Haider and Justice Ali Zia Bajwa dismissed the petition of the former senator.

Following the court decision, NAB officials present at the LHC took Waqar into custody.

A number of housing scam’s victims were also present on the court premises.

Previously, an accountability court had also rejected his bail application, but NAB was unable to arrest him at that time.

The bureau alleged that the suspect denied plots to people despite receiving money from them. It said the society defrauded the public at large by selling files more than the available plots.

It alleged that the former senator collected Rs10 billion from people who purchased the files of Pak-Arab Society Phase-II, which was also not an approved project by the Lahore Development Authority.

Published in Dawn, December 12th, 2024