KARACHI, Sept 22: Participants of a round table conference called for constitution of professional committees, comprising senior environment experts from private and public sectors, at the provincial level to review environment impact assessment (EIA) reports before launching development projects, especially mega projects.

They regretted that in many cases environmental concerns had not been cared for in the name of development projects. Important rules and regulations were sometimes sidelined on the ground of time factor, they said.

Participants also took note of the non-representation of major players in the city's construction projects such as the city government and the Defence Housing Authority.

The round table conference titled "Role of public hearings in formulation and implementation of public policy for construction projects in Karachi" was hosted by the Pakistan National Committee of IUCN members and the IUCN, Sindh Office.

Chairman, PNC, IUCN-Pakistan and senior politician, Javed Jabbar coordinated the programme. Advisor to chief minister on Environment and Alternate Energy Muhammad Noman Saigol was the chief guest. "If any builder violates a master plan or does not honour environment concerns, he should be blacklisted," representative of an urban resource centre said.

The former chairman, Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Mirza Arshad Baig, said that a builder should be bound to give a viable plan for water supply in order to get clearance for starting a housing project since this would reduce the chance of consumption of substandard potable water by the occupants.

Javed Jabbar, suggested that public hearings must be duly publicized and announced through print and electronic media. Mr Jabbar deplored said the masses who, being the main affectees of all such projects and policies, should have been the strongest players but the situation was otherwise.

Professor of NED University Muhammad Noman noted that till date there was no approved master plan for the city that had led to stray development schemes, resulting in congestion, traffic problems and environmental pollution.

He said the Sindh Environment Protection Agency should ensure that environment standards were maintained at least in government sponsored projects. Mr Noman maintained that mega projects including the Lyari Expressway and Northern Bypass lacked EIAs and that there were many lacunas in the plan to re-settle the affected, which allegedly included undue influence of political and land mafias in the allotment process of plots. - APP