In September of last year, the prime minister laid the foundation stone for the RUPD. During the ceremony, he said that the project was an effort to bring modern urban planning to rural areas and generate social and economic opportunities in Punjab.
Critics of the project said that it had been initiated without an environmental impact assessment, and would unfairly deprive farmers with live-sustaining agricultural land. Some alleged the project was a giant land-grabbing endeavor.
The RUDP was conceived as a $7-billion riverfront urban development project which aimed to transform almost 50 kilometers along the banks of the Ravi River into a ‘high-quality urban development.’
On Tuesday, the LHC effectively halted the projected when it ordered the government to return loan money it ruled had been acquired illegally. Furthermore, the LHC said that the Ravi Urban Development Authority (RUDA) had acted in violation of land acquisition laws.
“Agricultural land can be acquired only when there is a proper legal framework for it but the land for RUDP was acquired through a violation of Land Acquisition Act, 1894,” the court stated, pointing a finger at the government administrations in Lahore and Sheikhupura.