On the Margallas: CDA thwarts road project, for now

Ruling party MNA, land developers obtained NOC from the civic agency to build access road to a housing colony.

ISLAMABAD:

The civic authorities have managed to temporarily disrupt construction of a road through the Margalla Hills National Park to connect the capital with Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.

The Capital Development Authority (CDA) stopped work on the project temporarily and confiscated heavy machinery.

A private land developer — who allegedly owns 2,600 kanals on the rear side of Margalla Hills within the territorial limits of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) — with the help of local land holders and a ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) member of the National Assembly from Abbottabad, intend to develop a housing society at the land.

The plan involves the construction of a road to give entrance to the proposed housing society from Islamabad.

The CDA’s security directorate, which recently carried out a preliminary investigation, has submitted a report to the authority’s chairman over the issue.

The report states that the security directorate has confiscated a dozer and deputed its officials on the site.

It all started almost a month ago, when Raja Sajjad managed to obtain a no-objection certificate from CDA’s Planning and Design Wing for the construction of a ‘temporary’ causeway — a small bridge to cross a seasonal stream passing through the Margalla Hills at Kingra Village. He received the permission citing inconvenience faced by native schoolchildren while crossing the stream during the monsoon season.

Documents suggest the environment wing opposed the NOC, saying ‘it will pave way for development activities including establishment of private housing colonies in the forest area in K-P limits”.

Ignoring the suggestion, the planning wing issued the NOC allegedly succumbing to pressure exerted by the PML-N lawmaker, a senior CDA official said requesting anonymity.

However, once the NOC was issued, the environment wing again wrote to the planning wing to cancel the permission and block the passage.

According to the inquiry report, 300 square feet of the protected forest area is affected by the project.

A road leading up to the stream was constructed during the previous government’s tenure. Now, to reach the proposed housing colony, construction of a 2km road is being mulled following the erection of a bridge over the stream.

A senior official blamed for issuing the NOC, said on the condition of anonymity that the “planning wing never issued the NOC for construction of a road… it was for a temporary causeway.”

He said the permission was given after locals threatened to hold CDA responsible in case of any loss of life while crossing the stream.

If someone, he said, was going beyond a clearly specified mandate, it is illegal and liable to be dealt with in accordance with the law. None of the officials of the CDA talked over the issue on record.

When asked about the action taken, a security department officer said the authority had already confiscated machinery, besides temporarily blocking the route. He said police would be contacted for registration of an FIR against the violators.

However, senior officials believe the civic agency is not in a position to resist the political pressure they have been facing in this regard.

When contacted, the CDA spokesperson said he did not have any knowledge of the issue.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 5^th, 2015.