SHC restrains authorities from using park in North Nazimabad as construction site

The Sindh High Court on Thursday restrained the District Central deputy commissioner (DC), Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) and others from occupying any portion or raising any construction at a public park in the North Nazimabad area.

The interim order came on a petition against installation of a batching plant and placing of heavy machinery by the FWO at the park. Petitioners Mohammad Ameen Khan and others had submitted in the petition that they were residents of Block H and Block L of North Nazimabad and were being aggrieved by the placement of heavy machinery and batching plant at the Jaifco Ground situated in Block-L.

They submitted that the FWO had placed heavy machinery in the park and installed a batching plant despite the fact that an amenity plot could not be used for any purpose other than amenity for which it had been reserved.

They submitted that due to the unlawful activities at the subject park, the petitioners as well as nearby residents’ lives had become miserable because of continuous noise pollution as well as environmental pollution.

They submitted that the Karachi Development Authority (KDA), Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) and other concerned authorities had miserably failed to take any action to stop the unlawful activities at the park despite knowing the fact that the FWO had unlawfully occupied the ground in violation of the rights of the petitioners and the same was also a grave violation of the Supreme Court’s directions.

They submitted that the FWO could not have been permitted to use the subject park land as a construction site or for a commercial purpose without proper proceedings under the law for change of usage and classification of the subject park land in the master plan/layout plan from amenity to a construction site and this also required inviting objections from affected persons.

The SHC was requested to order removal of the batching plant and heavy machinery installed at the park land as the same had become a environmental hazard and was in violation of the Karachi Town Planning and Building Regulations 2002 and fundamental rights of the petitioners.

A division bench of the high court headed by Justice Nadeem Akhtar observed that the Nazir’s report supported the allegations of the petitioners that the FWO had installed heavy machinery on the park.

The FWO submitted in the statement that the Central DC had handed over the subject park to it for establishing a camp office for the construction of the Gujjar Nullah. The SHC observed that prima facie it appeared that the DC and assistant commissioner had no authority to hand over the possession of the subject park for any other purpose. The high court restrained the DC, FWO and others from occupying any portion or raise any construction on the subject park till next date of hearing.