Pakistan’s infrastructure and investment policies suffer from a major defect—while the cost-benefit analysis of major development projects inculcates profits, impact on the economy and the GDP, the social and environmental costs of potential projects have been neglected. This culminates into a situation where billions of rupees and investment are injected into a project, only for the project to get caught in litigation and bureaucratic hurdles at securing approvals at the environmental stage.
The problems that are arising with the proposed Malir Expressway project in Sindh shows that this is not just one political party’s affliction, but is a fundamental flaw in our administrative policy. Once again, work on the Malir Expressway, a Rs27.5 billion and 39-km-long project that would start from KPT Interchange, Qayyumabad and terminate at Karachi-Hyderabad Motorway near Kathore, was begun before the project’s environmental impact assessment (EIA) report was approved by the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa), despite the provincial environmental regulations mandate that no construction could be commenced unless the proponent had received an EIA report.
The ensuring result is the same consequence that has plagued other similar large infrastructure projects—the residents who are affected by the project take out protests due to very valid concerns about the environmental and social impact of the project. Like the Lyari Expressway, the Orange Line Train, and several CPEC projects, there is the risk that the Malir Expressway could get stuck in public interest litigation, while funds and contracts have already been entered into, causing loss.
The irony of side-lining environment regulations of development projects, in favour of economic measurement, is that it can result in the entire project getting shelved at the last stage, leading to massive financial loss. More than that, it leads to poorly designed cities, with chaotic, arbitrary development projects that ignore established methods of urban planning and end up worsening living standards. There is a need for greater transparency in project approval and construction—strict adherence to environmental and social regulations, before construction is started, is required, for the benefit of the city, its residents, and the project sponsors themselves.
The problems that are arising with the proposed Malir Expressway project in Sindh shows that this is not just one political party’s affliction, but is a fundamental flaw in our administrative policy. Once again, work on the Malir Expressway, a Rs27.5 billion and 39-km-long project that would start from KPT Interchange, Qayyumabad and terminate at Karachi-Hyderabad Motorway near Kathore, was begun before the project’s environmental impact assessment (EIA) report was approved by the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency (Sepa), despite the provincial environmental regulations mandate that no construction could be commenced unless the proponent had received an EIA report.
The ensuring result is the same consequence that has plagued other similar large infrastructure projects—the residents who are affected by the project take out protests due to very valid concerns about the environmental and social impact of the project. Like the Lyari Expressway, the Orange Line Train, and several CPEC projects, there is the risk that the Malir Expressway could get stuck in public interest litigation, while funds and contracts have already been entered into, causing loss.
The irony of side-lining environment regulations of development projects, in favour of economic measurement, is that it can result in the entire project getting shelved at the last stage, leading to massive financial loss. More than that, it leads to poorly designed cities, with chaotic, arbitrary development projects that ignore established methods of urban planning and end up worsening living standards. There is a need for greater transparency in project approval and construction—strict adherence to environmental and social regulations, before construction is started, is required, for the benefit of the city, its residents, and the project sponsors themselves.