Going up in smoke: Commercial activities spoiling capital’s environment

CDA presents violations before Senate panel; sub-committee tasked to develop action plan to protect environment.

ISLAMABAD: A number of industrial and  commercial units have been  operating  in  clear  violation  of  environmental  laws  in  the capital and defacing the  Margalla Hills National Park  for a long time now. 

This  was  highlighted at a public hearing of Senate Subcommittee on Environmental Degradation of Islamabad at the Parliament House  on  Friday.

The sub-committee was formed to develop an environmental action plan which will then be implemented by government departments.

The meeting was attended by senators, representatives of the government and civic  and  environmental  agencies as well as parliamentarians, media and civil society  representatives.

The  Capital Development Authority (CDA) presented specific  violations by individuals and businesses on the Margalla Hills.

Golra Forest Range

Giving  range-wise  details,  the  authority  officials  informed the meeting that at  Golra  Forest  Range  (GFR),  the worst affected of the four  forest ranges of the national  park in Zone-III, there were  five stone crushers and four  housing societies operating in  violation of the CDA by-laws.



The  stone  crusher  companies are named as Fecto Cement,  Chaudhry M. Asif, Chaudhry Irfan, Chaudhry Naveed and Akhter  Mehmood.

The four housing societies are: Margalla Meadows, North Ridge Society, Al-Reyan Housing  Society and  Ali  Town. Two of the  societies have also encroached considerable land in the GFR. Besides, the authority pointed out 46 specific instances of violations such as construction of walls, houses, rooms, fencing, grabbing of acquired land and levelling of the CDA land.

Saidpur Forest Range 

At Saidpur Forest Range (SFR) the meeting was informed that 29 individuals have been violating the law. FIA Deputy Director Mir Mazhar Jabbar has reportedly encroached upon some land in that range. At the SFR there were 16 livestock sale points as well.

Nurpur and Bhara Kahu 

Forest Ranges Similarly at Nurpur Forest Range (NFR) the authority identified a total of nine violations by individuals while at Bhara Kahu Forest Range (BFR) it reported 15 violations and two cases of encroachment. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Director General Asif Shuja said stone crushers were operating in violation  of  law at the Margallas but WAPDA was reluctant to cut  power supply to them. Shuja said in 2012 the petroleum  ministry had granted licence to a private firm to explore oil and gas in the hills which was a grave violation of law.

“You should submit a copy of that licence, so that we could proceed for its cancellation,” convener of the committee Senator Mushahid  Hussain said. Sustainable Development Policy Institute  Chief  Executive Dr Abid Q. Suleri informed the committee that about 360 poultry sheds and 170 poultry farms were also causing water  pollution in Islamabad.

Industrial pollution

Representatives of EPA said that there were nine steel furnaces operating in sectors I-9  and I-10 of the industrial area  and about 98 brick kilns in the  limits of ICT which were causing pollution.

CDA bye-laws do not allow any industrial activity causing pollution but these steel  furnaces were allowed to operate in the 1980s. Initially,  a buffer zone was created to  separate industrial and residential  areas,  but  later  the  buffer zone was abolished.

Islamabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Subhan Khalid informed the committee that in 2005 it volunteered to relocate the industrial units to  the outskirts but no one took  interest.  He  said  the  CDA  board lacks public and business community representation in it.

Human rights expert Syeda Viqarun Nisa Hashmi said that approximately 350 million non-degradable plastic bags are used in  Islamabad every year.

Senator Hussain said that every citizen has a right to a clean and green Islamabad.

The committee asked for proposals to cope with the menace of plastic bags, disposal of hospital waste, issuance of notices to illegal stone crushers and initiation of a  public awareness campaign  for  implementation  of  the  existing laws.