ISLAMABAD: Monal restaurant administration and workers staged a protest demonstration against the Capital Development Authority (CDA) after the restaurant was sealed on court orders. The protesters, on Thursday, also staged a sit-in, and said they would continue until the CDA revisits its decision to seal the restaurant.

The protesters said they had become unemployed due to the closure of the restaurant and they would continue to protest peacefully to demand their rights. The Islamabad traffic police diverted traffic from Express Chowk and Nadra Chowk to alternative routes during the protest and sit-in. Citizens were advised to use Nadra Chowk and Ayyub Chowk instead.

Traffic from Daman-e-Koh Chowk, which leads to Seventh Avenue and Margalla, was also diverted. Assistant Commissioner City Moosa Tahir implemented the court’s orders and sealed the restaurant the other day. Monal Islamabad was built in 2006 by the CDA, under the provision provided by Margalla Hills National Park Ordinance 21 (3) and was leased for 30 years.

Monal has been a training school for thousands and directly employs 700 people. The economy of the surrounding local villages is injected with millions of rupees every month.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022