Human Rights Watch (HRW) Tuesday reported that Pakistani authorities are evicting thousands of farmers to make way for an infrastructure project near the city of Lahore.  The organization also called on Pakistan to revise its land acquisition laws to ensure that individuals only have their land expropriated for legitimate purposes and are compensated fairly.

HRW recently spoke to 14 farmers in the area who said that authorities in Pakistan’s Punjab province either evicted or threatened them with eviction in connection with the Ravi Riverfront Urban Development Project. Patricia Gossman, HRW’s associate Asia director, called on the Pakistani government to “minimize displacement and loss of income” amid the evictions.

Since the announcement of the project in 2020 more than ‘100 farmers’ have been criminally charged for refusing to hand over their land. People in the area of the river rely significantly on farming and are concerned that poverty will increase as a result of the evictions.

The Ravi Riverfront Urban Development Project was put forward by former Prime Minister Imran Khan in 2020. The initiative will first create fresh water from rain and will subsequently develop road, commercial, and educational infrastructure in the area. Khan’s party, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), has deemed it the “world’s largest riverfront modern city.”

The project has met opposition from environmental groups who claim the project will “significantly increase the risk of flooding.” Local farmer Chaudhry Ahmed previously told the Guardian that the “government is snatching our land for urban development and displacing us from farms we have occupied for centuries.”

In September 2022 mass protests began in an attempt to prevent evictions relating to the urban development project, with people claiming the project is illegal and violates human rights. Due to these criticisms, the Lahore High Court reviewed the legality of the project and determined that the project was illegal. The court reasoned that the Ravi Urban Development Authority (RUDA) “failed to prepare an independent Master Plan” required by the legislation authorizing the project. Khan commented on the court’s decision by stating “instructions were given to run the project in a better way.”