Questionable construction: Korang area residents protest river bed encroachment

Claim illegal housing unit may affect drinking water supply.

ISLAMABAD:

Citizens of the federal capital residing near the Korang River, on the eastern outskirts of Islamabad, have lodged a protest against encroachments on the river bed.

They claim that the illegal constructions defy  zoning regulations and pose a threat to the environment and the availability of drinking water in Rawal Dam.

Residents and environmental activists gathered at the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) office on Friday to appeal that the concerned authorities take action against the alleged “indiscriminate” and “illegal” residential and commercial constructions underway in the Korang River bed and the Rawal Lake catchment area near Shahpur and Mauza Phulgran.

Residents of Shahpur have also filed a complaint with the Pakistan Environment Protection Agency (Pak-EPA) about the construction of a five-storey housing unit in the Shahpur Pakistan Television colony. The foundations of the under-construction building have been laid inside the river bed, residents claimed.

Environmentalists at the gathering said such encroachments destroy the natural habitat near the river and pollute the river, which feeds Rawal Lake — the primary source of drinking water for Rawalpindi.

The Pak-EPA has accepted the complaint and is expected to issue a notice to the builders for an Environmental Impact Assessment, according to sources at the agency.

Kanwar Muhammad Javed Iqbal, a senior environment researcher at SDPI, said EIAs are a legal requirement for all new projects, adding that according to CDA zoning regulations, construction of houses is not allowed in areas adjoining water bodies, lakes and reservoirs.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 8^th, 2013.