PAT, AML rally: Participants leave trail of destruction in Rawalpindi

PHA official says damage done to plants, flowers could be in millions

RAWALPINDI: Though the anti-government rally of two political parties passed quietly late Saturday, the participants left behind a trail of destruction in various parts of the city.

Supporters and activists of Dr Tahirul Qadri’s Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) and Shiekh Rashid’s Awami Muslim League (AML) along with a few activists of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) damaged private and public properties including grills of the metro bus track, plants and vegetation in various parts of the city including along the main Benazir Bhutto or Murree Road to reach the designated location at Rehmanabad Chowk.

The day began with a small number of people trickling into the designated location in the morning that continued till the noon. But the crowd swelled in the evening despite a complete lock-down of the city by the district administration with containers placed almost on all roads leading to Rehmanabad Chowk, where Tahirul Qadri and Sheikh Rashid Ahmed made fiery speeches against the government especially the prime minister.

Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) Director General Dr Abid Malik told The Express Tribune on Sunday that he had tasked officials to assess the damage done to the plants and flowers on the Murree Road.

According to an assessment of the local administration and police, over 5,000 people had gathered at the venue.

The activists have ruined vegetation, plants; fallen railings at various locations along the metro bus route could be seen.

During a visit to the city, it transpired that the rally participants had also damaged landscape on the median from Liaqat Bagh to 6th Road.

Dr Malik said that he had deputed three officials to assess the damage and he will submit a report to the district coordination officer (DCO) on Monday.

He noted that the loss could be in millions as they have completely destroyed flowers of merry gold, Ficus and euphorbia plants that were planted on the median from Chandni Chowk to 6th Road and from Liaqat Bagh intersection to Chandni Chowk flyover.

Responding to a question about the steps taken by the authority to preserve the plantation, the official said that they had asked the organisers to ensure the protection of plantation and vegetation and the organisers had assured the PHA that the activists will not do any damage.

They did not keep their promise, he said.

Dr Malik said that the PHA staff had a scuffle with activists of the two parties on Friday after they stopped them from erecting banners and placards on electric polls and railings on the Benazir Bhutto Road.

The rally participants had also damaged railings erected by the Rawalpindi Development Authority (RDA) to protect vegetation on a median.

RDA Director Engineering Muhammad Akram Soban said that the authority will carry out the damage assessment on Monday.

He said that no reports of damage done to the metro bus tracks or terminals were received.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 5^th, 2016.