Court stays felling of trees

LAHORE
The Lahore High Court Thursday stayed felling of trees for project “signal free corridor” from Qartaba Chowk to Liberty Chowk.
Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah issued the restraining order to the Punjab government on public interest petition filed by a lawyer.
Advocate Fahad Malik, the petitioner, stated that the government started chopping the trees, ignoring the environmental impact in the wake of the signal free corridor.
He said the Lahore Development Authority, the execution agency, did not obtain a mandatory NOC from the Environment Protection Department.
He stated that the government ignored a survey of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) before launching the billions of rupees project.
The petitioner prayed to the court to stop the government from felling the trees and ask it to fulfil all perquisites before starting the project. Justice Shah stayed the felling of trees and sought a reply from the government by March 6.