The CDA withdrew licenses of all boats after a 2010 Supreme Court directive against motor boats due to water pollution concerns. PHOTO: FILE.
ISLAMABAD:
An attempt to shut down the unsafe boating area at the Lake View Park was thwarted on Wednesday when a sessions magistrate issued a stay order against the closure.
The Capital Development Authority (CDA) had moved to stop boating at the Rawal Lake on Tuesday. CDA’s Parks Directorate had issued a letter to the Lake View Park’s manager to put up a fence and close public access to the jetty, it was learnt.
But on Wednesday, the owners of some row boats that operate at the Lake went to court. Park manager Muhammad Junaid Afzal told The Express Tribune the boat owners got a stay against putting up the fence. The court is scheduled to hear the case against the fence on March 16, Afzal said.
The CDA withdrew licenses of all boats after a 2010 Supreme Court directive against motor boats due to water pollution concerns. But around 50 row boats have continued operations despite not being licensed.
The boat men do not exercise any maximum carrying capacity limits and the boats are not equipped with any life jackets.
There are no lifeguards at the park either to respond to any boating accident.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 7th, 2013.
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