LHC orders restoration of varsities’ grounds used for Orange Line project within five days

LAHORE: The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday ordered restoration of grounds of varsities, which were used by the previous provincial government for Orange Line Metro Train project, ARY News reported.

The court ordered the authorities concerned to get land on all five grounds vacated and restored within five days.

Director of Water and Sanitation Authority (WASA) informed the court that people occupying the land were also involved in extracting ground water and two of the owners had now been served Rs 6.7 million bill for immediate payment.

He said if the bill was not paid within 10 days, then assets of both the owners would be seized to retrieve the amount. The court expressed its resentment, saying nobody was aware of the amount of water used by the land owners.

In his statement before the court, director general Lahore Development Authority said the process restoration of grounds to their original condition was underway.

A petition was filed in the LHC earlier this year against use of grounds of the Punjab University and the Government College University by the previous provincial government for the construction of Orange Line Metro Train project.

Justice Ali Akbar Qureshi, who was hearing the case, had expressed displeasure over the situation and observed that the Orange Line Train project ruined the beauty of Lahore. He further observed that the use of grounds for any other purpose was also a violation of Supreme Court’s judgments.

On September 29 this year, the PU registrar had written a letter to LDA, stating: “The land owned by Punjab University was taken more than four years ago by the government for construction of link road from Lahore Branch Canal to Wahdat Road but no consideration amount has been paid till now (Sept 26, 2018).

The university registrar had also written another letter — “Request for payment of Rs8,145,000 on account of rent for usage of university grounds along Lake Road, Lahore, since 01.12.2015 for construction of Metro Bus Transit System and Orange Line Metro Train projects.”