The court passed this order on the petition of Lok Baithak, an NGO, which filed the petition through its convener Muhammad Umerdraz. The petitioner contended that according to a United States geological survey the rocks found in Chiniot belonged to the pre-Cambrain period, more than one billion years old.
Apart from its geological importance, Chenab Nagar, situated on the right bank of the Chenab River, has carvings on rocks from the stone ages, he said. The petitioner contended that these rock carving are 700,000 years old, adding that these rocks are the sole archeological remains of the kind in Punjab and amongst the few such sites in the world.
The petitioner said he had visited the site recently and was shocked to see that the Chiniot rock hills were being crushed down by contractors of the Mines and Minerals Department.
He stated that if the ongoing work was not stopped these rocks would be eliminated from earth. He pointed out that these rocks had been declared ‘special premises’ under Punjab Special Premises (Preservation) Ordinance 1985. He said these sites had been surrounded by crushing machines having no license or contract from the Mines and Minerals Department.
The petitioner further added that 90 per cent of Chenab Nagar and Tehsil Lallaian situated on both sides of the river had been crushed down for the construction of the motorway. Now the remains situated at Block “C”(Alaf Mohallah) and Block “D”( Chungi No. 1) are in danger of being illegally destroyed by various contractors.
The petitioner prayed that the on-going crushing be stopped in the area and the government be asked to protect the area.
The court sought replies from the federal and Punjab governments by July 20.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 13th, 2010.
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