NCHR orders CDA to stop felling trees

ISLAMABAD: The National Commission for Human Rights Pakistan has ordered the CDA to stop felling trees along the Ataturk Avenue as part of its expansion project.

The orders were issued at a preliminary hearing held at the commission’s office on Monday.

Earlier, the Environment Protection Agency (Pak-EPA) told the National Commission on Human Rights Pakistan (NCHR) that they had issued a notice to the Capital Development Authority (CDA) for failing to comply with EPA’s rules and regulations.

Trees along Embassy Road- Ataturk Avenue have been felled as part of an expansion project.

As per the CDA and the Pak-EPA, a public hearing had been held for the dualisation project. However, citizens claimed that they were found out about such a hearing.

The NCHR directed the Pak-EPA and the CDA to submit minutes of the respective meetings and hearings along with newspaper clippings announcing the public hearing.

CDA representatives told NCHR Chairman ex-Justice Ali Nawaz Chohan that the civic body has started planting trees to compensate for those already felled along Ataturk Avenue.

Moreover, they said that Pak-EPA and CDA will be inspecting the site on Tuesday, October 31, along with the team from Reclaiming Green Islamabad (RGI) — an environmental network of Islamabad’s residents.

The inspection, officials said, would check the quantity and the species of trees which the CDA is planting as part of the mitigation plan.

The NCHR chairperson ordered the CDA to transplant the trees instead of just cutting them. However, the CDA responded that the transplanting machine only works for trees with smaller diameters.

At this, the NCHR showed its concerns over the transplanting machine.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 31^st, 2017.