I have today found that the government of Punjab has started cutting trees on the Lahore Canal Road. This is being ostensibly done under the landmark judgement of the Supreme Court announced only two days ago.
The Supreme Court has, in this judgement, graciously accepted all the recommendations of the Mediation Committee that I had constituted on my appointment as Mediator by the Chief Justice of Pakistan. We had made 18 recommendations, all as a holistic package, and had suggested that all these be implemented, in letter and spirit, through a detailed and co-ordinated work plan, as a “compact” of the government of the Punjab with the city and residents of Lahore.
Rather than proceeding with the indecent haste to start cutting the trees, the government of the Punjab should have first prepared a comprehensive action plan directed by the Supreme Court to be submitted to the Registrar of the Supreme Court within six weeks of the judgement.
The Mediation Committee had specifically recommended against cherry-picking from amongst its 18 recommendations and it appears that the government of the Punjab is doing precisely that by proceeding with the cutting of the trees without, to cite only one other recommendation, declaring the Lahore Canal Corridor as an urban heritage park.
I urge the Punjab government to present an integrated implementation plan of the 18 directions of the Supreme Court before arbitrarily start acting on only one direction of the Supreme Court.
DR PARVEZ HASSAN
Chairman, Canal Mediation Committee, Lahore