PESHAWAR: A senior lawyer has approached the Peshawar High Court, seeking orders for enforcement of environmental and municipal law and removal of encroachments and the demolition of illegal structures from drains, canals and riverbeds.

In the petition, high court lawyer and former home secretary Dr Syed Akhtar Ali Shah complained about the rapid, unplanned expansion of Peshawar, encroachments on the Bara River, Budni Nullah, Bisai Khwar and other natural waterways, and unauthorised construction over drains and green areas.

He said instead of protecting water channels and implementing, the master plan of Peshawar and townships such as Hayatabad and Regi Model Town, authorities had permitted illegal high-rise structures, commercial centres and mega projects in violation of the law, leading to urban flooding, severe pollution, dysfunctional sewage and drainage systems, and grave public health hazards.

“The devastating floods in 2010, 2022 and lately are evidence of the risks caused by neglecting waterways and master planning,” he said, attaching photographs of encroachments and environmental degradation with the petition.

Lawyer also calls for removal of riverbed encroachments

Respondents in the petition included the chief minister, chief secretary, irrigation, forest and environment and local government secretaries, the vice chancellor of the University of Peshawar, the chairman of the Department of Environmental Science at the University of Peshawar, the director (preparedness and disaster management) at the University of Peshawar, the director general at the Environmental Protection Agency, the director general at the Peshawar Development Authority, and the mayor of Peshawar.

The petition invokes fundamental rights under Articles 9, 9A, and 14 of the Constitution, including the right to life, dignity and a clean environment, and relies on various judgements.

The petitioner insisted that though there was a comprehensive legal framework, including Canal and Drainage Act, 1873, KP River Protection Act, 2014, Pakistan Environmental Protection Act, 1997, Pakistan Climate Change Act, 2017, National Disaster Management Act, 2010, and the KP Local Government Act, 2013, their enforcement was “absent.”

He said the master plans of Peshawar and its townships had been violated, and ghair mumkin lands, reserved for canals, drains and riverbeds, had been illegally occupied.

The petitioner requested the court to order removal of encroachments and demolish illegal constructions from drains, canals and riverbeds, seek explanations from authorities for failure to enforce environmental and planning laws and ensure submission and implementation of master plans of Peshawar, Hayatabad, Regi Model Town and other cities.

He also sought orders for the preparation of comprehensive disaster management and flood prevention strategies to mandate the EPA Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to discharge its statutory duties and secure people’s right to sustainable urban living through planned governance.

Published in Dawn, September 9th, 2025