RAWALPINDI: Lahore High Court (LHC) Rawalpindi bench Justice Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry on Monday directed executive officer Rawalpindi Canton-ment Board (RCB) not to raise any construction on the vacant piece of land near Dhoke Syedan. The decision came after the protest by the residents of the area against the construction of overhead water tank. The chief justice summoned RCB Chief Rana Manzoor Ahmed and directed him not to raise any construction on the land till the final disposal of a petition filed by Advocate Muhammad Anwar Dar in 2009, to use the land for either education purposes or for public park.
The executive officer of the RCB in his statement assured the court that they would not raise any construction. The court would take up the petition on April 25 for hearing. Advocate Dar on Monday filed an application with the LHC’s Rawalpindi bench for early hearing of a contempt of court plea saying that the cantonment authorities were trying to block the only road linking Ghaziabad locality with busy Dhoke Syedan Road as they wanted to construct water tank there. The petitioner in his fresh application had maintained that the authorities, in violation of an earlier stay order from the high court had given tenders construction of water tank and wanted to dig the recently repaired road used by the area residents.
Making EO and RCB chief as respondents the petitioner in the petition filed in 2009 maintained before the court that about 74 kanal land was lying vacant that should be utilized only for the purpose of a public park or educational institutions as such facilities were wanted in the surrounding areas. The petitioner has maintained that there was no other piece of land available to set up park, schools for boys and girls or hospital for general public as areas of Kamalanad, Dhoke Syedan, People’s Colony and Tench Batta were densely populated and were desperately needed public park or play ground.
He has further stated that the areas have population in millions but there was no public school for boys or girls and the piece of land owned by military authorities should be utilized for the benefit of general public. On the other hand army authorities had stated in their reply to the court that they wanted to sell the land to generate funds for construction of new GHQ in Islamabad.
