Tunnelling through the Margallas
The tunnel project is a direct assault on the MHNP and if not checked, construction will certainly begin straightaway.
The writer is a retired federal secretary and president of the Margalla Hill Society
On August 23, 2013, at a meeting presided over by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, the Tunnel Project, which lay dormant all this time was resurrected with a bang. The prime minister informed the meeting, that “a tunnel through the Margalla Hills to link Islamabad with Haripur would provide a shorter route to commuters of Gilgit- Baltistan, Mansehra and Abbottabad”! The project is being implemented by the National Highways Authority and the Capital Development Authority (CDA), both of which have been directed to undertake all preliminary measures and work out details with record speed.
This bizarre and grotesque project is a menace to the ecology and environment of Islamabad and the region. It is inconsistent with the objectives of the Margalla Hill National Park (MHNP) and is in violation of the laws governing the MHNP. It was first imposed by General Musharraf on the CDA. The Margallah Hill Society (MHS) opposed the project and sought the intervention of the Supreme Court.
On March 29, 2012, when the case was taken up by the Supreme Court, Chaudhry Ramzan, Counsel for CDA, informed the court that the project had been deferred and was not being considered for the time being. The Court ordered that since the project had been abandoned for the time being, no further action was called for. We thought this would lay the project to rest permanently and felt confident that we had seen the back of it. How wrong one can be? The project has now been revived in the teeth of opposition from the citizens of Islamabad. We are back to square one, back to the starting point, once again, the threat of the tunnel looming large, like a dagger, over the MHNP.
Haripur is already connected by good roads to Islamabad via GT Road and the Motorway. Why dig a tunnel through the park? What emergency or dire necessity justifies this assault on the MHNP? The country has a long established system, where procedures are laid down for appraisal of projects and which specify bodies empowered to sanction major projects. The tunnel project does not appear to have been processed with the Planning Commission or sanctioned by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council or approved by any higher authority, including the Environment Division and the Environment Protection Agency.
The tunnel project is a direct assault on the MHNP and if not checked, construction will almost certainly begin straightaway, causing incalculable harm to the park and Islamabad. In view of the urgency of the matter, I have already sought the intervention of the honourable Chief Justice of Pakistan to remove the threat facing the MHNP, once and for all, in a final and conclusive manner so as to end uncertainty and public concern.
I appeal to all citizens of Islamabad/Rawalpindi, men and women, young and old, all environmentalists across the country, all those who love MHNP and last but not least, our independent and vibrant media to help the Margalla Hill Society in this regard.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 15th, 2013.
This bizarre and grotesque project is a menace to the ecology and environment of Islamabad and the region. It is inconsistent with the objectives of the Margalla Hill National Park (MHNP) and is in violation of the laws governing the MHNP. It was first imposed by General Musharraf on the CDA. The Margallah Hill Society (MHS) opposed the project and sought the intervention of the Supreme Court.
On March 29, 2012, when the case was taken up by the Supreme Court, Chaudhry Ramzan, Counsel for CDA, informed the court that the project had been deferred and was not being considered for the time being. The Court ordered that since the project had been abandoned for the time being, no further action was called for. We thought this would lay the project to rest permanently and felt confident that we had seen the back of it. How wrong one can be? The project has now been revived in the teeth of opposition from the citizens of Islamabad. We are back to square one, back to the starting point, once again, the threat of the tunnel looming large, like a dagger, over the MHNP.
Haripur is already connected by good roads to Islamabad via GT Road and the Motorway. Why dig a tunnel through the park? What emergency or dire necessity justifies this assault on the MHNP? The country has a long established system, where procedures are laid down for appraisal of projects and which specify bodies empowered to sanction major projects. The tunnel project does not appear to have been processed with the Planning Commission or sanctioned by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council or approved by any higher authority, including the Environment Division and the Environment Protection Agency.
The tunnel project is a direct assault on the MHNP and if not checked, construction will almost certainly begin straightaway, causing incalculable harm to the park and Islamabad. In view of the urgency of the matter, I have already sought the intervention of the honourable Chief Justice of Pakistan to remove the threat facing the MHNP, once and for all, in a final and conclusive manner so as to end uncertainty and public concern.
I appeal to all citizens of Islamabad/Rawalpindi, men and women, young and old, all environmentalists across the country, all those who love MHNP and last but not least, our independent and vibrant media to help the Margalla Hill Society in this regard.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 15th, 2013.