KARACHI, Feb 3: A division bench of the Sindh High Court on Saturday reserved its order on a petition against the ‘Beachfront Project’ of the Defence Housing Authority.

The bench, which consisted of Justice Sarmad Jalal Osmany and Justice Nadeem Azhar Siddiqui, heard detailed arguments advanced by DHA counsel Makhdoom Ali Khan, resident petitioners’ counsel Jawaid A. Siddiqui and Shehri (an NGO) counsel Rizwana Ismail on Friday and Saturday.

Residents of Seaview Apartments and neighbouring area initially moved the petition to assail the construction of a commercial project over a 13-acre plot earmarked for a public park and a mosque. Shehri joined in the proceedings to challenge the entire Beachfront Project along the coastline. An additional 60,000 square yards was given to M/s Minhal (Pvt) Limited, the contractors, for development of a huge entertainment complex and shopping mall. The project would effectively bar the residents and the general public from the beach, the petitioners maintained.

The DHA counsel argued that the park sanctioned in 2000 was never a part of the authority’s master plan. The public would not be barred from the beach and that the project posed no threat to environment. However, the DHA was prepared to submit the project to the environmental protection agency and seek a no-objection certificate from it.

The petitioners’ counsel argued that the DHA had no master plan and was expanding haphazardly. Once a plot had been earmarked for development of a public park, it could not be put to any other use under a Supreme Court judgment. Public entry to the beach would be restricted. The project would be built over a sewage plant and pollute the whole area along the coastline. They also objected to the principal federal and provincial law officers appearing as DHA counsel in the petition.