ISLAMABAD: Streams and water channels are filled with trash and forests and mountains are being denuded, the Supreme Court said on Tuesday while castigating the Capital Development Authority (CDA) for the sorry state of the capital.

“The beautiful city of Islamabad has become worse than cities like Karachi and Lahore,” a two-judge bench of Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Umar Ata Bandial remarked.

The SC has taken up a case suo motu on a letter written by Imran Khan before his election that invited attention towards encroachment on the Botanical Garden, haphazard construction in Banigala, denuding because of large scale tree felling and the pollution of Rawal Lake by sewerage.

SC laments state of the capital, reprimands CDA for not performing the duties for which it was created

Dismayed by the state of affairs in Islamabad, the court asked for CDA Chairman Amir Ahmed Ali, who was present in the courtroom, and regretted that the authority was full of ghost employees who had never been seen working.

Pointing towards the CDA chairman, Justice Ahmed wondered why it was that the SC had to keep waking the authority out of its deep slumber.

He said the whole city was turning into a katchi abadi and losing what the capital was created for, and asked why the CDA never performed the duties for which it was formed.

The court observed that the authority ignores the orders it issues, while the entire city has been destroyed and denuded, with green cover and mountains being eaten up. The court said forests have been chopped down and lakes have been turned into garbage dumps.

When the chairman attempted to explain, Justice Ahmed said he should not make excuses and, if he did not want to work, should leave.

“Tell us if you complied with earlier orders of the court,” Justice Ahmed said. He told the chairman he should go and see what had been happening at the new airport.

Justice Ahmed then asked: “Do you want to turn the entire city into a slum?” He said people, including commissioners and magistrates, come to get allotted plots in the city, adding that they had been under the impression that such a state of affairs only existed in Karachi.

He said that since he had come to Islamabad, he had seen that the CDA chairman had not been able to complete work on Kashmir Highway, and incomplete structures had been left where criminals and drug addicts could take refuge. Is this your performance, Justice Ahmed asked.

The situation is the same on Islamabad Expressway, where passersby lose lives because of the lack of pedestrian bridges. The highway also lacks protective fencing on either side of the road, endangering pedestrians.

The court added: “You just keep making and selling plots and creating slums. I am amazed; is this even Islamabad?”

In response, Mr Ahmed conceded that Islamabad does not have a permanent landfill site but said a location has been identified in Sangjani, which the environment protection agency will visit for approval.

He explained that he had only assumed office two months ago, and had done his best since them to meet expectations. He added that the CDA provided the Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) a temporary waste transfer site during this two-month period.

He also said he had never taken a plot in the capital, nor did he intend to, and had even surrendered his plot in G-14 because he was not comfortable with the concept.

When the chairman told the court that God willing, his department would do its best to carry out its responsibilities, Justice Ahmed wondered when the moon would be sighted.

“What do you mean, God willing? Tell us what planning you have done and when the auspicious day will come when you will do some work,” he added.

The CDA chairman asked for a month, with the assurance that he would show his performance. The court postponed proceedings for four weeks.

Published in Dawn, April 5th, 2019