IHC stays construction of Bhara Kahu Bypass

Islamabad : Islamabad High Court (IHC) has issued a stay order against the construction of Bhara Kahu Bypass trespassing Quaid-i-Azam University land.

Justice Miangul Aurangzeb on a petition filed by the legal action committee of the Academic Staff Association, QAU, in his order here Tuesday ruled that no further construction activity shall be undertaken within the boundary of the QAU till the next hearing of the case on October 24.

The court observed that it implies that till date approval of EIA had not been obtained from Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (PEPA). The court directed the DG, PEPA, to immediately depute a team of inspectors and submit a report as to the current status of the construction work and also report as to “whether such activity was initiated by State-controlled organisations without obtaining an environmental impact assessment approval.”

While talking to this correspondent, Dr. Aamir Ali, President ASA said, “We are not against public interest but it should not be at the cost of education.” He said that QAU has been ranked continuously among the top 500 higher education institutions in the world by Times Higher Education. He demanded a financial bailout package for QAU.

Meanwhile, QAU old students across the globe expressed serious concerns and resentment regarding the forcible further possession of QAU land. Talking to The News, many serving and retired faculty, employees and existing and former students expressed anger and dismay over Dr. Muhammad Ali Shah, the QAU Vice-Chancellor, who did not record his dissenting opinion while sitting in the meeting of the CDA Board of Governors where this bypass was also on the agenda. The VC told this scribe that he is a member of BoG in his individual capacity but the Campus community observed that the VC wherever he is should have protected QAU rights including its sacred land. Remaining dumb is not an option, said an angry faculty member.

QAU Alumni Association has shown serious concerns and reservations about usurping university land by CDA. The core committee of the Alumni, in an emergent meeting held here Tuesday, pointed out that instead of declaring QAU a flagship institution through the provision of required financial resources and resolving long pending land encroachment issues, its precious land is being further possessed without taking the concerned stakeholders on board.

The core committee decided that like on the previous occasions, the alumni would protect the precious land of alma mater as an important stakeholder and no compromise would be made in this regard. They vowed to play an effective and important role as part of Joint Action Committees.

They fully supported the principled and justified demands of the Joint Action Committee including the demarcation of 1709 acres of QAU land, issuance of redesigned map of QAU land, and completion of the boundary wall of QAU land by CDA. The alumni is monitoring the situation closely and will protect the land of its alma mater come what may, said Murtaza Noor, Secretary-General of Quaideen.