ISLAMABAD: A total of 14 public parks in the capital have been encroached upon, according to a report the Capital Development Authority (CDA) recently submitted in the Supreme Court (SC).

The report, which was presented to the SC, has not been taken up. It revealed that 14 parks in the capital – five in F-11, five in G-11 and one each in G-8, G-9 and D-12, are facing encroachment issues.

It said that there are 263 planned urban parks in the capital. These were planned and developed by the CDA in all its sectors as a facility for residents and their development and maintenance was devolved to the Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) after the formation of the local government.

Of the 263 parks, the report said, more than 200 have been developed and more than 40 have yet to be developed.

The CDA had also planned 100 playgrounds for the capital, of which 45 have been developed and 54 are underdeveloped, the report said. It added that one playground in F-8 is “encroached” but did not go into further detail.

Sources said that the F-8 football ground has been encroached upon by lawyers associated with the Islamabad District Bar Association. Former chief justice of Pakistan Mian Saqib Nisar took suo motu on illegal and ongoing construction of around 500 chambers by local lawyers during his tenure.

The CDA report was compiled by the authority to point out violations of the capital’s master plan. It carries the details of CDA projects, inquiries, initiatives, challenges, its future plans and its issues with the MCI.

The report was submitted to a three-member bench headed by Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed, which is seized with an appeal moved by Pak Gulf Construction, the parent company of Centaurus Mall, against a Nov 10, 2017, Islamabad High Court decision to begin anti-encroachment efforts all over the city.

The court had directed the CDA to submit the reportduring one of its hearings.

When contacted, CDA spokesperson Syed Safdar Ali said that public parks and playgrounds fell in the domain of the MCI.

“Since the SC had directed us to furnish a detailed report of parks, playgrounds, master plan violations etc, after getting input from the MCI we submitted the report before the SC,” he said, adding that the MCI is supposed to remove encroachments from its parks and grounds.

Published in Dawn, February 2nd, 2020