Quarrying at Margallas: Govt counsel fails to submit satellite images

AAG says govt has no satellite images of the area

ISLAMABAD: As the top court of the country is resuming the hearing of a suo motu case regarding the illegal activities at Margalla Hills today (Wednesday), the federal government has failed to produce the satellite images of the area

Additional Attorney-General (AAG) Waqar Rana has submitted a statement in the Supreme Court wherein it is stated that the government has no satellite images of the area. He, however, said that a request had been made to  Pakistan Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (Suparco), the only organisation which has the technology to take satellite images of the area.

The research body officials, however, in their statement, said that images of the area comprising the Margalla Hills National Park for 2013 had already been procured.

However, the images for 2016 will be obtained from abroad, pending the payment of fee that will be charged at a rate of 10 euros per square kilometre.

“A request for obtaining imagery of 2016 has been sent to Suparco and  to arrange the requisite funds, a letter has been written to law ministry”, the AAG said.

The statement says that the response of Suparco and the law ministry is awaited and once the latest imagery is received, same shall be placed on record. Meanwhile, the Punjab government has told the SC that the police officials have been deployed at the Margalla Hills to stop the illegal activities of quarrying.

The provincial government has also objected to the maintainability of the applications of stone crushers against the ban on their activities.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 20^th, 2016.