The Sindh High Court (SHC) recently heard a petition challenging the purchase of land and building of a Bio-Gas plant for the Red Line Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project in Cattle Colony. The Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC), Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA), and other parties received notices from the SHC in this regard as well.
The petitioners asserted that the government’s decision to purchase 32 acres of property in Cattle Colony for a Bio-Gas plant was injurious to the health of the community’s people. Cattle Colony is a major meat and milk supplier to the city, and the selected site for the Bio-Gas plant had been designated for slaughterhouses and milk farming facilities.
Furthermore, because it would be located in a highly populated region, the planned Bio-Gas facility will expose a huge number of people to dangerous contaminants. Furthermore, the practicality of a Bio-Gas plant for powering the transportation project had not been proven, and there are no present operational examples of biomethane-fueled mass transit systems.
The government neglected to analyze the project’s financial viability, as well as other possible alternatives to Bio-Gas.
Given the health effects for Cattle Colony inhabitants, the petitioners requested the SHC to rule the allotment of property in the Cattle Colony for the purpose of a Bio-Gas plant unconstitutional.
The petitioners’ attorney requested an expedited hearing on the case, pointing out that the Bio-Gas facility was being built in the region without the authority of SEPA. Following the preliminary hearing, the high court sent letters to SEPA and other relevant parties and requested comments by 17 May.
Source: Pro Pakistani