Restaurant on Margalla Hills sealed

Supreme Court summons owner of hotel

ISLAMABAD: Construction on the expansion of a  popular restaurant in the Margalla Hills was brought to a halt on Tuesday after a court order, with the district administration and the apex environment regulator of the federal capital later sealing the premises for felling some 200 trees in the hills.

A five-member larger bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed, on Tuesday heard a case about the preservation of the Margalla Hills.

The court recalled that it had ordered to stop construction in the Margalla Hills. However, it said that only the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government had submitted a report in response to the directives while the other respondents had failed to do so.

It, however, remarked that the Islamabad district administration has managed to bring to a halt stone crushing in the mountainous region.

During the hearing, the court asked Islamabad Chief Commissioner Amer Ali if the land of the Margalla Hills could be leased, considering that it was a national park and hence protected land. It added that if this was not possible, then how is it that so many restaurants and other establishments were constructed in the park.

At this, Ahmed told the court that a restaurant operating in the hills has been sealed.

CJP Ahmed then ordered the hotel’s management to plant 1,000 saplings to offset the loss of 200 trees, which were chopped down to make way for the restaurant’s expansion. It reiterated that the task will be performed by the hotel management and not by the district administration.

Later after the hearing of the case, the court issued an order in which it stated that the Margalla Hills cannot be used for personal or commercial use as it was a national park. It issued notices to owners of all eateries operating in the Margalla Hills and ordered them to stop construction activity. It further summoned these owners at the next hearing of the case.

Premises sealed

Earlier, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Islamabad district administration had sealed off restaurants in the Margalla Hills for chopping trees for their extension project.

Ministry of Climate Change Media  (MoCC) Focal Person Muhammad Saleem said that they learnt about the ongoing construction work in the hills, initiated by the management of the restaurant, causing a significant loss of green cover and land degradation.

“Taking serious notice of the illegal construction activities and tree cutting, the advisor Malik Amin Aslam on Tuesday directed the Pakistan EPA to take legal action against the culprits,” he told the media.

Later, EPA and district officials sealed the restaurant and lodged an FIR against its owners at the Secretariat police station, Saleem said.

The district administration apprehended two people, identified as Muhammad Sagheer and Muhammad Naeem, while a case was filed by the Kohsar police.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20^th, 2020.