Problem overview:

     Integrating stakeholders: Various stakeholders involved in this example, some support the highway project and some are against. This example will show how the parties against the highway project have joined forces to persuade financiers to hold back funding until the highway has been rerouted away from the park boundary.

     Meeting information requirements: In this example, NGOs and environmental institutes have proven that the construction of Indus highway will impose irreversible negative impact on the ecological condition of Kirthar National Park by doing an environmental impact assessment of the project.

Background:

      Disbenefits caused upon the environment from highway construction

      It has been perceived that construction of highways connect one area to another and improve transportation efficiency. However, routing a highway through a natural park means splitting one big park into two small pieces. An important factor for species diversification is the size of forest. If the forest size is small then low species diversity is expected. Unlike human, animals don't walk across the road to hunt at the other side of the park. If animals were caught on the side of the park with low food supply, there is a chance that they will die and eventually disappear from one side of the park. That is why, the direction towards decreasing species diversification is possible.

      Kirthar (Sindh Province) was declared a national park in 1974 and is Pakistans largest national park. The protected area comprises of wild life sanctuaries and game reserves totaling 447,161 hectares. The boundaries were drawn around the historical range of two key species, the Sindh ibex and urial (wild goat and wild sheep). The park includes a nearly intact arid land ecosystem, significant archeological sites and is inhabited by some 10,000 tribal people dependent on subsistent agriculture. The park is administered by Sindh Wildlife Management Board (SWMB), an agency of the Sindh Government.

The Highway Project

      In 1988, the Government announced its program of construction of Indus Highway (N-55): 1250km designated to provide alternative to existing National Highway (N-5): 1650 km linking Karachi with Peshawar via Lahore. The N-55 will run along the mighty Indus Rivers, West Bank and cut the distance between Karachi and Peshawar by about 400 kilometers. Besides reducing the distance and lessening the pressure on the traffic on the National Highway, the Indus Highway would be instrumental in bringing socio-economic progress to other wise backward areas, which lie in the proposed path. The World Bank and Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund (OECF), Japan agreed to provide Pak. Rs. 5.5 billion for this road project. The National Highway Authority under the Federal Ministry of Communication was made responsible to construct this strategic national highway.

      The southern-most section of this highway between the cities of Karachi-Nooriabad and Sehwan (147 km) was to pass through Kirthar National Park. The release of funds and award of the contracts depended on No Objection Certificate (NOC) for the passage of the road from the park from the Government of Sindh.

Possible Impacts on the Environment

      The SWMB was concerned that the highway will have negative effect on the Park, An independent expert carried out a survey and concluded that the highway will have severe risk to the parks wildlife and other features. The principal threats form the highway include, hunting, disturbance, and ecosystem severance. Physical and managerial mitigation measures are unlikely to reduce the impacts to an acceptable level.

      Notwithstanding the above position, the construction of the highway as per its original plan and route was inaugurated in a groundbreaking ceremony performed by the Prime Minister on October 14, 1990 close to a town near Kirthar Park. The SWMB refused to grant NOC, saying that its rights are protected by law and proposed an alternate route for the highway, bypassing the bounds of the park.

Stakeholders Participation

      This stance of the SWMB was widely supported by the public and press. The IUCN-Pakistan and other NGOs approached the World Bank to reconsider financing of this project due to its adverse impact on environment. They made the further release of funds conditional to an NOC from the Sindh Wildlife Department.

      The National Highway Authority, sponsor of the project, protested against the suspension of the work at a time when the project has been approved by all administrative units, including the Sindh government. Asserting that the Wildlife department was slow in raising its objections that should have been registered at the time that the feasibility of the road project was being prepared. Meanwhile, despite the criticism from various environmental groups, the Federal Highway Authority procured NOC in support of the construction of Indus Highway as per its original route from the head of the administrative setup of the province (Chief Secretary, Government of Sindh).

      The NOC issued by this authority of the Sindh Province for this purpose-attracted attention of The World Bank officials and other NGOs. The World Bank as one of the principal financier of the project insisted for an NOC by the Sindh Wildlife Departments the relevant Government agency responsible for protection of Wildlife in the Province namely SWMB.

      Upset by the development taking place, in June, 1991, a Constitutional Petition was filed in the Sindh High Court by the Secretary for the Conservation and Protection of Environment (SCOPE), to pass an order to declare that the NOC for the construction of this Indus Highway had been issued without lawful authority, hence had no legal effect.

Rerouting the Highway

      As a result of these actions, The World Bank backed out from the financing of the Highway Project, till decision by the Court. Meanwhile, the National Highway Authority of Federal Government quickly acted and agreed to reroute the Indus Highway bypassing the Kirthar National Park. As a consequence, these actions by Sindh Government and the National Highway Authority aid for Project was restored.