Pakistan's new city project along River Ravi draws ire

Pakistan's Ravi River Urban Development Project (RRUDP) is envisioned by the current ruling government, Pakistan Tekreef-i-Insaf, as an innovative and efficient solution to the country's exponentially growing population in Lahore — one of its major urban centers. However, the project has been met with criticism from environmentalists and activists and has been part of a legal tussle between the provincial Punjab Judiciary and the country's apex judiciary, the Supreme Court.

The Ravi River is a 720-kilometer (447-mile) transboundary river crossing northwestern India and eastern Pakistan.

The RRUDP is envisioned as a 41,308-hectare (102,074-acre) planned city, which would make it Pakistan's second planned city after the country's capital, Islamabad. The project boasts rehabilitating the Ravi River into a perennial freshwater body and is expected to be the world's largest riverfront when finished.

An idea dating back 75 years

The idea of an urban development project on the Ravi riverfront was first conceived in 1947. In 2013, the Government of Punjab began considering the project, but it was not inaugurated until August 2020 by Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan. While construction began in December 2020, the project has been embroiled in legal cases and little progress has been made so far.

The provincial judiciary and Supreme Court have been at odds when it comes to judgments regarding RRUDP.

On January 25, the Lahore High Court (LHC) scrapped the RRUDP, declaring several provisions of the Ravi Urban Development Authority (RUDA) Act 2020 unconstitutional.

In an uncharacteristically quick-fire response, just six days later, the Supreme Court suspended the LHC's initial order to halt the RRUDP until RUDA rectified and amended their legal lacunas. The RRUDP has, in effect, been given the green light for implementation, which has garnered criticism from environmentalists, human rights activists and the farming community that reside along the Ravi River.

Pakistan's Land Acquisition Act pushes boundaries

In Pakistan, the government can purchase and acquire land from residents for public projects. However, the Land Acquisition Act of 1894 is seen by many as antiquated and against constitutional protections of a person's right to life and liberty. 

This point was raised by the LHC in the hearing regarding RRUDP and advised that the government should elaborate further on farming and agricultural land in the Act to protect vulnerable farmers, the country's food security and ecological health. 

Speaking to DW, environmental lawyer Rafay Alam, who was one of the petitioners on behalf of the farmers against RRUDP, commented: "This project is ​​an unashamedly green-washed land grab. There needs to be a limit and regulation to the government's acquisition of agricultural land otherwise where does it end?"

In rebuttal, the CEO of RUDA, Imran Amin, maintains that the RRUDP project is well within the purview of the constitution as it is the government's duty to provide amenities and housing to its population. If not for the Land Acquisition Act, Amin said, the government would not be able to proceed with planned urbanization and development.

Is RRUDP going to endanger Ravi's agriculture?

In 2021, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) launched a fact-finding report on RRUDP and one of the primary concerns was the impact the project may have on Punjab's ecology, food security and farmers' livelihoods.

According to the report, almost 77% of the site area is agricultural land while the remainder comprises a delicate ecosystem of community and flora. The HRCP fears that the agricultural land of over 76,000 acres could be affected under the 30-year project.

The HRCP'S chairperson, Hina Jilani, told DW: "Such so-called development projects are favoring concrete over agricultural land, which is problematic as the land around Ravi is supplying much of Lahore's fruits and vegetables and especially the farmers themselves, who live and feed off this land, this project is impinging on their social and economic rights."

Mazhar Abbas, a spokesperson for the Ravi Farmers' Movement, who has protested against the RRUDP's actions, told DW that there are several reasons farmers are skeptical of the project.

"Farming is all these people know, they don't want to give up their lands because it is their livelihood and community," said Abbas. Further, he shared that even if farmers were amenable to giving up their land, under the Land Acquisition Act, farmers receive very little settlement rates per acre (€1,008) which gives them less security.

However, RUDA CEO Imran Amin maintains that the RRUDP is a means to conserve the Ravi River and increase agricultural efficiency.

"There is a misconception that we want to remove all farmers and agriculture from the area. In our plan, we have given a 40% allotment to forest cover and agriculture," he said. "Right now, the Ravi River is acidic and we are not producing crops, fruits and vegetables we could be. As this project helps improve the river and ecology that we are committed to, we will also improve farmer livelihoods and produce."

Conflicting urbanization strategies

At the center of the RRUDP debate between opponents and proponents are conflicting strategies to tackle urban sprawl. According to Alam, the RRUDP represents "a fixed housing template" that favors the more affluent and adds distances and vehicular use in the city, further exacerbating Lahore's smog crisis.

However, Amin argues that Lahore and many of Pakistan's urban areas are in trouble because cities have not been planned and views the RRUDP as an antidote to Pakistan's rampant "housing society boom" and urbanization problem.

"RRUDP is not a housing society, we are making a planned city that is anticipating the population rise taking into consideration economic factors, pollution air index, forest cover, etc. We are planning for all segments of society and low cost housing is a compulsion in the plan."

Amin shared that in the initial plan, they are making a labor colony of 3,000 apartments that will increase as needed. This housing model, Amin hopes, will lead to a less informal sprawl and bad living conditions for the working class.

Feasibility studies controversy

Another criticism hurled at the RRUDP is that the feasibility study is not robust, as per the LHC's ruling. In 2014, the Lahore Development Authority hired Singapore-based urban development firm Meinhardt Group to run a feasibility study. This study also formed a significant part of the Environmental Protection Authority's Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA).

However, eyebrows have been raised regarding the efficacy of the study as the Meindhart Group was allegedly blacklisted by the Lahore Development Authority (LDA) in early 2022. The group has publicly denied this and is pursuing arbitration/defamation cases against the LDA.

Also, Amin, now CEO of RUDA, served as director of operations at Meinhardt Pakistan from 2012-2020, which petitions against RRUDP, and this has been deemed as a "conflict of interest."

Amin told DW that the conflict of interest claims are baseless as he was not involved with RUDA at the time Meinhardt was consulted.

"When anyone goes to a job interview, having experience and knowledge with the project is an asset. Since I was already experienced with the Ravi project, I had an added advantage and relevant experience. How is that a conflict of interest?" said Amin.

Edited by: John Silk