Far from complete: Five years on, city’s first aviary yet to see light of day

The proposed site near Rawal Lake resembles anything but a bird park.

ISLAMABAD:

A much-trumpeted park for birds, unveiled about five years ago, is yet to see the light of day.

Proposed in 2007 with an initial funding of Rs70 million by the former CDA chairperson Kamran Lashari, the aviary park would have provided an exotic recreational experience to the public with its range of more than 100 bird species.

Spread over three acres, the aviary park was to be built on international standards and handed over to the civic authority’s environmental wing after completion. The project was to be completed within two years, but five years on, the proposed site near Rawal Lake resembles anything but a birds sanctuary.

A CDA official, requesting not to be named, told The Express Tribune that the civic body has been unable to complete the project owing to its weak financial situation, adding that the incumbent CDA Chairperson Engineer Farkhand Iqbal “is also least interested in completing the project due to lack of funds”.

The official said that the authority has not even paid Rs5 million to the private firm that started initial work on the project five years ago.

The official claimed that the project could have been completed during the tenure of the last CDA chairperson Imtiaz Inayat Elahi, as the civic body was in a better financial position then.

The project’s deputy director, Javed Ramiz, blamed the authority’s financial constraints for the project’s non-starter status. “I just hope that the current CDA chairperson takes this project seriously,” he added.

CDA Spokesperson Ramzan Sajid said that authority’s chairperson is “looking into the matter”.

Currently the capital city has only one bird sanctuary at Marghazar Zoo, which houses a limited number and species of birds and animals. Animal lovers thus have no option but to go to Ayub Park and Lohi Bher Wildlife Park in Rawalpindi.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 26^th, 2012.