No Capital sector for underprivileged: IHC

Chief justice says CDA destroyed master plan

ISLAMABAD: The apex civic body, Capital Development Authority (CDA) has destroyed the original master plan of the city leaving no sector for the labourers and the underprivileged people.

IHC Chief Justice Ather Minallah said this while presiding over the hearing of a contempt petition over non-implementation of the high court’s decision for measures to mitigate environmental pollution.

Implementation on the court’s orders did not seem to be a priority of the government, Justice Minallah remarked.

The court summoned the secretaries of the ministry of climate change (MoCC), ministry of human rights as well as Capital Development Authority (CDA) Chairman and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Director General (DG) in the next hearing.

While expressing ire over the non-appearance of representatives of the related ministries, the court remarked that it seemed that the implementation of court orders was not the priority of the government.

Minallah stated that there was nothing for the labourers in the city who built it, adding that the CDA had destroyed Islamabad Master Plan.

“The civic agency only works for the welfare of the rich people,” he said, adding that there was nothing for the common people even if they were on the verge of dying.

The court directed CDA to inform the court that what had been done so far for the poor and labourers and how many sectors were built and allocated for them.

The court noted that CDA and the federal government had no intention to keep the federal capital clean.

The chief justice questioned the CDA representative why the wildlife sanctuaries were abolished.

“Aren’t you going to be answerable to God?” Justice Minallah asked. “Which sector was created for the weaker sections of the society in the master plan?”

The court asked the CDA representative to explain why and how the city’s masterplan was destroyed. At this, the representative admitted that the civic agency was responsible for it.

“No, it’s not just your mistake. Our entire system is built like that”, he remarked.

Minallah said that back in 2015, they had directed to constitute a committee comprising experts of all related institutions while the Federal Minister Asad Umar was also a part of it.

“The commission was to constitute a report and a set of recommendations that were to be beneficial for the common people”, he noted.

The court remarked that the CDA was prevented from allotting plots and asked how many plots have been allotted so far.

The court summoned the secretaries of the ministry of climate change (MoCC), ministry of human rights as well as Capital Development Authority (CDA) Chairman and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Director General (DG) in the next hearing and adjourned the hearing until June 13. 

Published in The Express Tribune, June 7^th, 2020.