Margalla Hills National Park: SC orders wildlife board to take over eateries on Sept 11

ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court ordered the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board that with the full assistance of Capital Development Authority (CDA) and Islamabad police take over the possession of the restaurants, established at the Margalla Hills National Park.

A three-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice Qazi Faez Isa, released its reserved judgment on Monal Restaurant and others’ petitions, saying; “On September 11, 2024 the Wildlife Board will take over the possession of the said restaurants, that is, Monal, La Montana and Gloria Jeans, with the full assistance of CDA and the Islamabad Capital Territory Police, and the entrances to said area shall be barricaded.”

The Court through 11th June 2024 order had granted three months’ time to all the restaurants on and around the PirSohawa Road in the National Park to vacate them. However, it allowed small kiosks situated on or around the PirSohawa Road in the National Park to continue to operate provided they are licensed by the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board and strictly abide by their terms of license.

The order further said; “Thereafter the same shall be demolished with minimal disturbance to the wildlife and by avoiding damage to the trees of the National Park.”

“The Wildlife Board shall then determine how best to utilise the mountain ridge on which the said restaurants stood,” it added.

The judgment noted that the restaurant operated by Luqman Ali Afzal set a precedent for others, including La Montana and Gloria Jeans. The restaurateurs trespassed and encroached upon and illegally incorporated into their business establishments land of the National Park. Afzal was given the possession of a single building on the ridge but over the years his restaurant (Monal), La Montana and Gloria Jeans captured the entire mountain ridge. WWF has produced satellite imagery of the area over the years, beginning from 2004 which makes for extremely painful viewing; the destruction of the forest and its replacement with concrete. The restaurateurs violated the Islamabad Wildlife (Protection, Preservation, Conservation and Management) Ordinance, and also a number of other laws. No building can be constructed without first obtaining requisite approval, and upon completion thereof the completion certificate ensuring that it was constructed in accordance with law, but these were not obtained.

Afzal and the other restaurant owners paid no heed to the Ordinance, the building laws, to the PEPA and other laws. The directions and orders issued to them, to stop the illegal use of water, creating/causing noise, air and water pollution and failure to properly dispose of the sewage and waste generated were also disregarded. Such disdain of the laws and callous disregard is rarely witnessed.

Since the concerned authorities were oblivious, negligent and/or complicit in disregarding the abovementioned laws and of the destruction of the National Park this public interest matter was brought to the court by Professor Mirza who filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court (WP No. 4245/2014). The petition which he filed in 2014 was decided in 2022, and finally by this Court in 2024.

The verdict said that the owner of La Montana and Gloria Jeans, namely, Muhammad Amjad, was also issued a notice by this Court, but he elected not to disclose how he managed to get possession on the mountain ridge next to Afzal’s restaurant and who, if anyone, granted him permission to construct and run his establishments. However, it is unimaginable that without having connections with those at the power centre of the country he would have been able to raise illegal buildings and to do so by disregarding the laws of Pakistan.

The judgment observed that the National Park land has over the years been encroached upon, which could only have happened with the involvement of the officers of CDA and other senior bureaucrats. The attacks on the land of the National Park continue.

If the CDA interferes in or makes any attempt to take over the Wildlife Rescue Center, being run by the Wildlife Board, then those on whose orders this is done should be proceeded against departmentally and also prosecuted.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024