The Islamabad High Court (IHC) on Friday sought reply from the interior ministry, environmental and civic authorities on a petition filed against the installation of generators and security posts in commercial and residential areas by encroaching on green belts in various sectors of the city.
Justice Riaz Ahmed Khan issued directions to CDA Chairman Imtiaz Inayat Elahi, Interior Secretary Khwaja Mohammad Siddique Akbar, CDA Enforcement Director Muhammad Ramzan Joya, and Pakistan Environment Protection Agency (Pak-EPA) Director General (DG) Asif Shuja to submit their comments on the issue.
The petition has been filed by Naveed Asdaq Khan, a resident of Sector F-10, seeking the removal of all generators and security posts installed on encroached land.
The counsel for the petitioner Hashmat Ali Habib maintained that a number of green belts have been encroached upon, with the encroachers placing huge generators and security posts on them.
He argued that smoke emitting from generators was a major source of pollution, especially those which were placed in residential sectors and requested the court to order their removal.
Air pollution is on the rise and poses a major threat to public health and ruins the beauty of the city, maintained the counsel.
He maintained that influential people in residential sectors had encroached on neighbouring land and installed generators and erected security posts for their private guards in violation of law.
He informed the court that the CDA and Pak-EPA had failed to perform their duties to protect the land and environment in the federal capital.
Habib also informed the court that it is a violation of the Supreme Court orders of January 14, 2011, in which the apex court had directed the CDA to retrieve encroached land.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 12th, 2011.
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