Lahore: (Staff Reporter) The Lahore High Court (LHC) extended the stay order on the Lahore Master Plan 2050, besides allowing the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) to proceed with the 2016 plan. Justice Shahid Karim extended the stay order after the LDA lawyer made a request in this regard during the hearing of a plea filed by a citizen named Mian Abdur Rehman against the master plan.
According to the source, during the hearing, the LDA lawyer said they had no objections if the international experts are roped in to review the 2050 plan, adding that the governing body was bound to approve the international experts as per the rules. He said the members of the Punjab Assembly were also part of the governing body.
As per details at which, Justice Karim remarked it seemed that the caretaker Punjab government had no intensions of leaving the power. “When wills it interim government go?” he questioned. The prosecutor replied he had no idea about it. The high court has also ordered the government to avail services of the international experts to review the Master Plan 2050.
Furthermore the petitioner contended that the master plan would convert the agriculture area of the city into an urban area without any justification. He said thousands of trees would be cut to materialize the project in the country vulnerable to the climate change. Arguing that the plan was launched with mala fide intention, he pleaded with the court to set aside it.
