Chitral airport is not the only place where such illegal construction has been carried out.
LAHORE: This is with reference to the news item “DC Chitral’s residence to be demolished if found illegal” (March 5). The story states that the deputy commissioner of Chitral is allegedly constructing an illegal residence 200 metres from the town’s airport’s runway. Chitral airport is not the only place where such illegal construction has been carried out. One can see illegal constructions near the airport in Lahore as well. A huge wall on the eastern edge of the airport’s runway, which runs very close to the airplanes present on it, has been constructed. This poses a serious threat to safety of the airplanes and is against the National Airfield Clearance Police and Federal Land Building Possession Act LIV of 1965.
If this wall has been constructed for security purposes, it is counterproductive as it hinders the view of the Airport Security Force guards sitting on the towers and can provide cover to any miscreant on the other side of the wall. It was a very strange decision to construct the wall as all other exposed sides (even the main airport road) have a low barbed wire fence. Moreover, it is well within the range of the 750-feet prohibited zone adjacent to the runway. But in Pakistan, it seems that the whims of higher-ups become the law.
Farrukh Shah
Published in The Express Tribune, March 5th, 2013.
