ISLAMABAD: None of the senior officials of the environment wing in the Capital Development Authority (CDA) has even been charged with illegally chopping and selling 34 sheesham trees four years ago.

While the officials continue to deny any wrongdoing, the only step taken by the top management of the civic agency has been to constitute another inquiry committee to probe the matter.

Sources in the environment directorate said Deputy Director General (DDG) (environment) Iftikhar Awan had been accused of granting permission to cut down the 34 sheesham trees at a parking space for the US embassy in the Diplomatic Enclave in 2010.

New probe ordered into chopping and selling of 34 sheesham trees in Diplomatic Enclave in 2010

Though the initial inquiry, ordered in 2010, said the then deputy director (protection) and a forester were also involved in the act, nothing moved ahead and none of the officers were charged. The inquiry committee also failed to come up with a report.

“When the inquiry was initiated, the member environment and the director general (environment) inspected the site and prepared a damage report and termed the action illegal,” said an official of the civic body.

“But the file was closed in a technical manner soon after the member environment was transferred.”

As the inquiry was initiated, the officers accused of cutting the trees immediately imposed a fine of Rs280,000 on one of the low-level official and then closed the file, said the sources.

However, an official in the environment department said the trees were valued more than Rs1.5 million. The serious issue was that the CDA ignored violations of the rules that led to cutting of trees to make room for the parking space.

When contacted, Iftikhar Awan, who is now working as the DDG F-9 Park zone, expressed ignorance about the cutting of trees in the Diplomatic Enclave.

“I am in a different zone for over three years and this area does not fall in the diplomatic area,” he said, adding that “before that, I worked on different slots and the diplomatic area might have been under me in 2010, but I do not remember having anything to do with the chopping of trees.”

He said senior personnel like directors or deputy directors general were not involved in trimming or chopping down of trees as this was the responsibility of foresters.

Meanwhile, Member Environment Mustafain Kazmi remained reluctant to say anything about the reopening of the inquiry and said the case had not been closed.

“Islamabad has a culture of respecting the environment but unfortunately we are beginning to ignore the importance of trees and this has to be stopped,” he added.

According to rules and procedures, a special permission has to be obtained from the member (environment) or the DG (environment) to cut trees after specifying the reasons and making a proper assessment of the wood.

However, in this case, no approval was obtained from the competent authorities and neither any no-objection certificate was issued to cut the trees.

The CDA chairman on Tuesday replaced the former inquiry officer, who did not complete the report in four years, and appointed Shahid Mahmood, the DG (water management), to head the inquiry committee and submit a report in three weeks.

Published in Dawn, September 24th, 2014