STAFF REPORT ISB: The recent construction work that has been started on Signal Free Islamabad Expressway project by Capital Development Authority (CDA) is challenged by Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (Pak-EPA); the sources of agency state that CDA had neither obtained the obligatory No Objection Certificate (NOC) from them nor conducted any prior Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) study to establish the environmental sustainability of the project.
Dr. Khurshid Khan, Pak EPA Director told the press that Pak-EPA had issued advisory note to CDA to obtain EIA report prior to starting work on the project, after taking notice of advertisements of CDA project in various newspapers couple of months ago.
It is also noteworthy that Federal Minister, Mushahidullah Khan had already shown displeasure over Pak-EPA for taking inadequate measures to suffice climate change impacts, therefore, it is expected that the agency will strongly pursue this matter.