Sleeping civic authority: Protesters demand action over Margalla Hills fires

Warn of surrounding offices of city managers unless action is taken

As wildfires raged over the Margalla Hills, members of the civil society in the federal capital staged a protest outside the National Press Club against the fires and the severe violation of the national park guidelines.

Protesters raised slogans against the city’s management and the mayor for their alleged ignorance towards such environmental disasters in the federal capital.

They called on the mayor to ‘hosh mein aao’ (wake up Mayor), ‘aag bhujao Margalla bachao (put out the fire and save the Margallas) among other slogans.

Speaking on the occasion, environmentalist and Devcom-Pakistan Director Munir Ahmed said the rising incidents of wildfires and deterioration of the Margalla Hills National Park is a constitutional violation by the mafias. He further alleged that this was only possible after coopting people in the Capital Development Authority (CDA) and the Islamabad Metropolitan Corporation of (IMC).

He urged the Supreme Court of Pakistan to take suo moto action against the extreme depletion of biodiversity and natural resource from the capital.

Munir pointed out that a recently-conducted study had shown that over 90 per cent natural resources had been depletion in the just the past three decades while water availability has fallen to just 400 per cent.

He added that the city was still waiting for justice to be done in the murder of a security guard who sacrificed his life in protecting trees in the Margalla Hills.

Munir warned of surrounding offices of the city’s managers if they fail to wake up and address the issue.

Another speaker said that the Islamabad Wildlife Board is trying to oversee the situation but locals seem to have hidden support from the influential.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 4^th, 2018.