The Chief Minister’s ‘Business-Friendly Commercialisation’ of the entire Walled City of Lahore, and over 50 other major roads and residential areas of the city, was dealt a setback on Monday, when the Lahore High Court served notices to the DCO Lahore and other concerned officials and departments to “explain this amazing decision within the ambit of the law and its recommended procedures”.
The pre-admission notices were issued after renowned Lahore journalist and columnist, Majid Sheikh, moved the court to stay the ‘commercialisation’ as it was “contrary to the interests of the culture and heritage of the people and city of Lahore”. The counsel for the respondent, Rafay Alam, explained that there seemed to be no law, or rules, or procedures that are being followed by the LDA and the Lahore City Government when commercialization is declared. “It is amazing that an entire city – the walled city of Lahore – has been declared ‘commercialised’ without even an environmental impact assessment,” he said.
The honourable judge, Asad Munir, observed that it was amazing that an entire section of the city was ‘commercialised’ and the people were not even informed. The judge observed that it seems a fit case to apply for a stay, but it was necessary to summon the DCO Lahore to explain the law and legal procedure under which the entire walled city, as well as major portions of Lahore were commercialized.
The counsel, Rafay Alam, explained that an advertisement on the back pages of two major Urdu dailies was published, but two days later a small clarification was printed on the inside pages of the same two dailies declaring that portion 53 of the advertisement concerning “the entire walled city” was a mistake as law does not permit commercial activity in the walled city. Rafay Alam observed that the advertisement’s wording did not negate the original advertisement. He urged that the court seek a clarification from the DCO, along the lines of the second advertisement, to bring on record that “no commercial activity was allowed inside the walled city”.
The counsel Rafay Alam, talking to media after the hearing said that commercial areas never exceed five to seven per cent according to world standards. However, Lahore’s Walled City has seen commercialization increase from approximately seven per cent in 1947 to 60 per cent plus in 2011, he added. “The commercialization is devastating for our culture and heritage, what to speak of the hundreds of historic buildings and sites,” Rafay said.
Majid Sheikh said that he had approached courts after no one had opposed the damage our trader-rulers were causing to our heritage.
