SC says marble industry destroying Margallas

Directs CDA chairman, Islamabad mayor and EPA DG to work together to find solution to environmental problem

ISLAMABAD: The apex court on Wednesday reprimanded the civic and environmental protection agencies for neglecting the repercussions arising from the establishment of industrial area in Sector I-9.

A three-member bench of Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed presided over the suo motu case pertaining to rising pollution in the Sector I-9 industrial area and summoned the CDA Chairman Amer Ali Ahmed and Islamabad Mayor Sheikh Ansar Aziz on Thursday (today).

The Supreme Court (SC) also summoned the roadmap for making Islamabad pollution-free and directed the CDA chairman, Islamabad mayor and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Director General Farzana Altaf to work together to find a solution to the environmental problem.

During the hearing, pointing out the hazards that emerged due to the marble industry in Islamabad, the court remarked that people were frequently falling sick because of it. It added that the beautiful Margalla Hills was bring destroyed due to the presence of the industry.

Pakistan's marble sector declining due to lack of attention

The court reprimanded the EPA by stating to EPA DG Farzana Altaf that her institution was not doing its job and commented that the EPA officials return to their offices after getting backhanders. At this, she decried the fact that the agency did not even have a single inspector and said that they were ensuring implementation on the SC orders issued on November 15, 2018. Contending this, DG added that the industries were being replaced with warehouses in Islamabad. At this, the chief justice remarked that the whole nation had transformed into a nation of shopkeepers selling smuggled items. The industrialists have become merchants, he stated. The court lamented the fact that we had skilled hand workers who knitted one of the finest fabrics in the world and wondered where they have all disappeared.

The court stated it did not want industries to shut off but the laws should be implemented. Shocked on the establishment of a steel mill in Islamabad, the chief justice remarked that the Margalla Hills would vanish within a week if the capital’s master plan was allowed to change. He added that being in London was more important for the mayor than doing his duties.

Chief justice asked who gave permission to establish an industrial zone right in the middle of the city to which the CDA’s lawyer replied that it was in accordance with the master plan.

Chief Justice stated that he has heard that Islamabad was designed on the same layout as Australia’s capital, Canberra. We have connected with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) on one hand while stretching towards Lahore on the other, he commented.

The court remarked that the buffer zone in the industrial zone was removed and asked who was living there. Justice Aijazul Hasan said that the green belt had almost vanished too and inquired where the industrial regulators were.

The counsel of the Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ICCI) appeared before the court and said that they had requested the CDA multiple times to allocate new space for industrial zone however the authority was busy constructing industrial zones in Sector I-17. At this, chief justice commented that after a decade, Sector I-17 would also become a part of the city.

The court suggested establishing textile type industries in Islamabad and move steel and other heavy industries to K-P or other parts of Punjab.

Rebuking the maladministration in the CDA, the court stated that even CDA peons helped land grabbers and further commented that the authority fearlessly flouted SC’s orders without realising whom it was playing with. Judiciary was among the pillars of the state while CDA was a small institution, the chief justice said. It added that the closure of the authority was just an order away.

Chief justice stated that the Islamabad Municipal Corporation (IMC) and CDA were not ready to do any work and added that he smells a distinctive odour when he roams around Islamabad in his car at night. The court remarked that heaps of garbage and littered streets have become a common sight in the federal capital, adding that ill-governance and lawlessness were prominent in every institution.

The court further said that the nation did not want institutions that did not work according to the constitution and added that everyone had done a compromise with work which was visible across the country in every field.

All the money given to IMC was used in payment of salaries, the chief justice said and remarked that there was a plethora of ghost employees in both CDA and IMC as they could be not seen anywhere working.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 5^th, 2020.