The Thar coal Block II expansion project has been approved

The Thar coal Block II expansion project has been approved

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The Thar coal Block II expansion project has been approved. According to a statement released on Monday, the Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC) board of directors has approved the development of its Thar coal Block II mine to produce 12.2 million tonnes per annum. According to a representative for Engro Energy, which owns a stake in SECMC, this development is expected to lower the price of coal from $60 per tonne to $27 per tonne.

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When the company completes the expansion by June 2023, Block II coal will be the cheapest fuel source in the country, with a price of $27 per tonne.

The government will allow Pakistan to save $420 million each year on foreign exchange. Additionally, the expansion of SECMC’s Block II mine will reduce Rs74 billion in the circular debt on an annual basis, according to a company news statement.

According to the International Energy Agency, international coal prices recently reached an all-time high of over $250 per tonne. As stated in the announcement, the increase will hedge against the volatility of coal’s international pricing while also alleviating pressure on the country’s current account deficit. In addition, the company stated that at the current price of $27 per tonne, Thar coal would be able to transition from its current application in the energy industry to other applications.

According to the company, the extended project will cost $93 million and enable Thar Block II to generate a sustainable supply of 12.2 million tonnes per year for the next 30 years.

SECMC now has an annual output capacity of 3.8 million tonnes, used to generate 660 megawatts of power since the company began operations in April 2019.

SECMC’s production will expand to 7.6 million tonnes per year during its second phase. A total of 1,320MW of electricity will be generated as a result of this.

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Pindi continues to have law enforcement personnel deployed

Pindi continues to have law enforcement personnel deployed

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Pindi continues to have law enforcement personnel deployed. Though life has returned to normal in the city following the restoration of the metro bus service and the reopening of Murree Road and its arteries, law enforcement agencies remain deployed.

On Sunday night, life in the city resumed normalcy following an agreement between the government and the Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP). Shortly after the development, the City Traffic Police began removing containers, concrete blocks, and barriers from Murree Road and its adjacent streets.

Clearing the Faizabad junction took several hours due to the containers being filled with sand/mud. The road was reopened in the early morning hours of Monday. Pindi law enforcement presence has not ceased.

Read more with EL news : Kidney Hill Park is referred to as the ‘Green Lung’ by Govt

The metro bus service resumed operations following several days’ suspension, resulting in a significant financial loss for the service and inconvenience for commuters.

However, the train service between Rawalpindi, Lahore, and Karachi has not been restored six days after it was suspended.

Residents of the twin cities, particularly students, office workers, and traders, faced hardship due to the road closures. While TLP workers and activists maintained a sit-in in Wazirabad, law agencies remained stationed there. Pindi law enforcement presence has not ceased.

After several days of suspension, the metro bus service resumed operations, resulting in a significant financial loss for the service and inconvenience for commuters.

However, six days after being suspended, train service between Rawalpindi, Lahore, and Karachi has not been restored. The twin cities’ residents, particularly students, office workers, and traders, endured hardship as a result of the road closures. While TLP workers and activists occupied Wazirabad, law enforcement agencies remained stationed there. The presence of law enforcement officers in Pindi has not ceased.

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Kidney Hill Park is referred to as the 'Green Lung' by Govt

Kidney Hill Park is referred to as the ‘Green Lung’ by Govt

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Kidney Hill Park is referred to as the ‘Green Lung’. The continuous efforts to transplant trees uprooted in various locations of the port city to Kidney Hill Park and the planting of fruit-bearing trees, bushes, and plants in the park can convert it into a Green Lung. This urban forest cleanses the metropolis’s air.

According to experts, Green Lung is necessary to tackle atmospheric pollution and rising temperatures in the coastal city.

Karachi, as a result of climate change, urgently requires a ‘Green Lung,’ ideally a forest, cultivated in its suburbs; however, given the ground realities, this may not be feasible; thus, a strategy of green covers scattered throughout the ever-expanding city is a viable option for addressing the associated challenges.

The attempt to protect trees that have been uprooted or simply cut down for various development schemes or expansion projects undertaken by government or private entities has flaws in the particular context of Karachi, which is divided into waterlogged, saline, and dry land zones, necessitating the transplantation of uprooted full-grown trees in specific areas that meet the conditions necessary for their healthy survival.

Dr Rafi ul Haq, a senior plant ecologist, emphasised the importance of a scientific approach to tree transplantation as well as the cultivation of saplings and seedlings, noting that due to the limited supply of land, soil properties are critical for the full and proper growth of trees, achieving the target of robust and sustainable green cover with little or no risk of stunting, damage, or loss of valuable resources such as finances, labour, and time.

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“How can we ever forget that precious trees uprooted from Garden West as part of the road expansion scheme were relocated to a dedicated site off M.A. Jinnah Road but failed to thrive, resulting in massive loss to nature and ecology,” the consultant with extensive experience working for the IUCN and other reputable organisations reminded.

In the case of Kidney Hill Park, which spans 62 acres of kidney-shaped human land, the scenario was quite different, as it emerged as a unique type of public facility that underwent a massive scientific transformation as a result of its evacuation from almost all categories of encroachers via Supreme Court intervention, paving the way for support from various stakeholders led by the then Municipal Commissioner of Karachi.

Shamim Bano, a mother of four who visits the park daily for her morning walk, expressed her awe at the rapid transformation, stating, “This is like something wonderful being developed in ruins with a range of flora and fauna – hundreds of plants, trees, and shrubs attracting birds – an added charm for nature lovers and children.” She was similarly impressed by the extra work put into landscaping, which included canopies of shrubs and the development of numerous routes. Each is equipped with necessary fixtures (essentially benches) and is named after a different national landmark.

Two important paths, Kokan and Dhoraji, are named after the surrounding communities, instilling a strong sense of belonging in visitors.

Faran Sangrani, a resident of Dhoraji Colony, stated that over the years, he and his neighbours were unaware of a pervasive sense of fear and apprehension caused by the presence of anti-social elements. A sizable piece of the abandoned park was informally converted into a rubbish disposal site, while others had occupied a sizable portion with creating cattle corral and tea stalls.

“The Supreme Court was a tremendous help, as it would have been nearly impossible to demolish facilities created by powerful people,” recalls Amra Javed, a senior activist representing Shehri – CBO, which works to safeguard the environment and citizens’ fundamental civic rights.

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Plots for bureaucrats and judges to be appealed by SC

Plots for bureaucrats and judges to be appealed by SC

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Plots for bureaucrats and judges to be appealed. On Monday, the Supreme Court will hear petitions challenging the Islamabad High Court’s (IHC) restraining orders prohibiting judges, officials, and government personnel from being allotted plots in the capital’s F-14 and 15 sectors (tomorrow).

Several working and retired federal government employees have filed two petitions with the Supreme Court challenging the IHC’s August 20th and September 13th judgments, pleading with the supreme court to prevent the IHC from making similar orders against the petitioners.

Earlier this year, the Federal Government Employees Housing Authority (FGEHA) filed challenges against these IHC judgments through Akram Sheikh lawyer. All of these petitions will be heard on Monday by a three-judge apex court bench presided over by Justice Umar Ata Bandial and comprised of Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah and Justice Sajjad Ali Shah.

It is understood that numerous Supreme Court judges benefited from recent balloting for plots in the F-14 and F-15 sectors. Six judges previously recused themselves from hearing a lawsuit involving the cancellation of a federal government housing programme in the federal capital’s F-14 and F-15 districts.

Additionally, read SC’s approach on plot allocation.

The petitioners stated that they were allottees of plots/land in Islamabad’s sectors F-14-F-15 and had submitted the appropriate payment with the FGEHA instead of their assigned stories for a lengthy period.

Additionally, they contended that the issue of whether they could have acquired the land for the FGEHA was not the topic of the writ petition; however, the IHC’s order on Sept 13, 2021, stated otherwise and went beyond their petitions, which were not the subject of the court’s decision.

“The petitioners are gravely harmed as a result of the impugned order dated Sept 13 given by the division bench of the IHC under unconstitutional,” a petition stated.

Additionally, the petition said that previous to 2009, the FGEHA provided housing to personnel assigned to certain schemes based on their age and seniority in government employment through scheme-specific programmes.

The FGEHA, it continued, would advertise a membership drive for the new scheme at the time of its debut, and employees would be assigned housing within that scheme based on their date of birth or seniority within the relevant government cadre.

Additionally, the petition noted that while exercising its jurisdiction in the instant case, “the high court, with due respect, has issued an order that constitutes judicial overreach and so demands intervention” by the supreme court.

Read more with EL news : Federal government allocated Rs14 billion for the Hyderabad-Sukkur route

Additionally, the IHC prevents judges from being assigned plots.

“Constitutional jurisdiction under Article 199 would not exercise in a vacuum, especially when all contentious issues concerning the acquisition and public interest/public purpose were adequately resolved earlier with admirable clarity by this court’s larger bench in its reported judgement 2021,” it stated.

“The high court failed to appreciate while exercising its jurisdiction, that an aggrieved person must have a dispute before exercising judicial power under Article 199 of the Constitution, and that this is a necessary pre-requisite for invoking the jurisdiction under Article 199 of the Constitution, and thus the impugned order is not sustainable.”

The petition said that the IHC could not re-establish or re-assess the proceedings on this court’s previously determined subject. Those principles had been articulated further in other supreme court rulings.

“The high court failed to grasp and apply the idea and meaning of aggrieved or aggrieved person as defined in Article 199 of the Constitution,” the petition said.

According to the petition, the high court exceeded its constitutional authority and violated the rules of supervisory jurisdiction in Article 199 of the Constitution and declared by this court.

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Federal government allocated Rs14 billion for the Hyderabad-Sukkur route

Federal government allocated Rs14 billion for the Hyderabad-Sukkur Route

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The federal government has allocated Rs14 billion for the Hyderabad-Sukkur Motorway. On Saturday, Syed Mohsin Ali Shah, Shaheed Benazirabad Division Commissioner, said that the Hyderabad-Sukkur Motorway would open the way for a new age of development in the area.

During a meeting on the land requisition from Shaheed Benazirabad to Naushahro Feroze districts for the construction of the Hyderabad-Sukkur Motorway project, he stated that they would offer feasible cooperation to the National Highway Authority for this public welfare project.

The commissioner stated that once the Hyderabad-Sukkur Motorway is completed, commuters will benefit from improved transportation options and create new employment possibilities for locals.

He stated that a method would be developed to provide early payment to landowners whose properties would be located along the path of the Hyderabad-Sukkur Motorway.

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In briefing the meeting, National Highway General Manager Sham Sundar stated that work on the project would be carried out and completed following the 2015-2016 working paper.

He stated that the federal government had allocated Rs14 billion for the Hyderabad-Sukkur Motorway project, which will benefit residents of Hyderabad, Matiari, Nawabshah, Khairpur, Naushahro Feroze, and Sukkur districts.

He stated that landowners and crop growers along the path of the Motorway would receive appropriate compensation.

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He said the 306-kilometre-long Motorway M-6 would feature six lanes and be supervised by five deputy directors and eight assistant directors of the National Highway Authority.

Deputy Commissioners Shaheed Benazirabad Aamir Hussain Panhwar and Naushehro Feroze Muhammad Tashfeen Alam, General Manager National Highway Authority M-6 Sukkur Sham Sundar, Regional Director National Highway Authority Jahangir Larak, and officials from related departments attended the meeting.

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Housing agency appeals IHC verdict on Islamabad allotments

Housing agency appeals IHC verdict on Islamabad allotments

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Housing agency appeals IHC allotment ruling. On Monday (today), the Supreme Court will hear a series of petitions filed by the Federal Government Employees Housing Authority (FGEHA) and its director general seeking protection from “obstacles in carrying out lawful pursuits and developing acquired lands” to provide housing for the homeless.

A three-judge Supreme Court bench comprised of Justice Umar Ata Bandial, Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, and Justice Syed Mansoor Ali Shah will hear the cases. The FGEHA will be represented by Muhammad Akram Sheikh, while the director general’s counsel will be Muhammad Munir Paracha.

The petitioners sought that the highest court vacate the restraining order issued by the Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Aug 20, suspending allotments to judicial officers serving or having served in the high court and Islamabad District Courts.

The IHC referred the petition to a larger bench for further consideration and expressed amazement that judicial officers of almost every district court benefited from the ballot for the assignment of plots in Islamabad’s F-14 and F-15 sectors.

The top court ruled this was a conflict of interest because the plots were given away at far less than market value. Additionally, the list featured the names of some court authorities who were terminated for misconduct or corruption.

Read more with EL news : Credit to the housing and construction sector increased by Rs139 billion

The appeals emphasized that before the Islamabad High Court, the petitioners had not objected to the land’s purchase.

The petition stated that the issue is (a) whether may have brought the land for the FGEHA and (b) qualified for assignment of plots carved out of the land obtained for the authority.

The IHC, the appeal contended, highlighted issues that were not addressed by the petitioners and sought no decision in the writ petition.

“This equates to the exercise of suo motu jurisdiction, which the Indian High Court (IHC) lacks. As it has already been developed that the High Court may exercise its writ power under Article 199 on the application of an aggrieved party or the application of any individual, the Aug 20 ruling is manifestly unconstitutional,” the appeal stated.

While exercising jurisdiction under Article 199, the court, the petitioners contended, cannot go beyond the grievance of an aggrieved party or individual.

Because the IHC’s contentious issues had been settled by a larger bench of the Supreme Court, the petitioners contended that the court’s Aug 20 order was unsustainable.

The FGEHA, it argued, was a public institution dedicated to providing housing for current and retired federal government employees, but vested interests had rendered the organisation dysfunctional through media scandals.

The petitions stated that the high court ruling had instilled fear among members of FGEHA schemes and allottees throughout Islamabad and other towns.

“Therefore, it is critical that this matter of great public importance be adjudicated under the constitutional scheme of adjudication and free of any influence from the parties involved, so that FGEHA may continue its work uninterrupted and unhindered,” the petitioners pleaded with the Supreme Court.

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