SEPA organises public hearing for M-9 motorway in Hyderabad

Karachi
The Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) held the public hearing for M-9 Motorway — which passes through districts East and Malir, and was inaugurated by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif during his visit to Karachi in March — in Hyderabad, on Tuesday.
Even though the M-9 Motorway passes directly through districts East and West of Karachi and there have been vociferous protests by the businessmen whose establishments will be affected due to its construction, the SEPA held the public hearing in Hyderabad.
It seems as if the SEPA has a habit of organising public hearings at a venue where the affected residents cannot come to raise their concerns.
The public hearing for the Thar cola power plant was held in Karachi, thus depriving the local populace of airing their reservations about the project.
The ground-breaking ceremony for the M-9 project was performed by the prime minister on March 11 this year while expressing the wish for it to be completed within 24 months, instead of the scheduled 30 months.
Perhaps, in order to speed up the progress in lieu of the prime minister’s wishes, the public hearing was organised by the SEPA in Hyderabad, despite the fact that most of the affectees including villagers, dwellers of various residential projects, restaurant and fuel station owners situated along the Superhighway are based in Karachi.
Not only was the public hearing held far away, the SEPA also made no effort to publicise the date, time and venue for the event due to which even media persons could not attend the hearing.
Hence, an important legal obligation was fulfilled without a problem.
Shabir Salmanjee, the leader of All Pakistan CNG Association in Sindh who has led protests against the project, said he had been aware that a public hearing was being held but he could not attend it since it was being held more than 150 kilometres away.
Moreover, there was no mention of any dissenting viewpoint in the press release issued by the SEPA directorate. Instead, it comprised of a monologue by the director-general SEPA Naeem Mughal stating the National Highway Authority (NHA) and the executing agency Frontier Works Organization (FWO) will safeguard the environmental and socio-economic interests of the people living on both sides of the highway.
The regional incharge of EPA in Hyderabad, Munir Ahmed Abbasi, justified organising the public hearing in Hyderabad saying that majority of the people affected lived in Thatta and Jamshoro districts, and the venue of Hyderabad was more convenient for them as opposed to Karachi.
“This Motorway would touch four districts but most of the affectees are in Thatta and Jamshoro districts,” said Abbasi.
“People from Karachi and even Islamabad attended the public hearing held today and expressed their opinions over the project.”
He further claimed that more than 400 people, including environmental experts, had attended the public hearing, which was higher than any other meetings held in Karachi.