ISLAMABAD, Aug 22: Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (Pepa) has been demanding the administrators of a number of housing projects planned alongside the under-construction Islamabad-Muzzafarabad expressway to obtain clearance from the agency, but so far in vain, an official source told Dawn.

The mandatory Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) is required under the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act 1997 for all such projects, but unfortunately nobody bothers about it, the source said.

With the commencement of the expressway’s construction, a number of private builders had announced housing projects along side the road.

Over the last few years, real estate business is in full swing and people are heavily investing in this sector under the direct supervision of government machinery.

“Everytime we come to know about such housing schemes, the agency asks them to get mandatory environmental clearance, however, hardly anybody responds,” the source said.

The main threats related to the development of housing projects is the cutting of reserved forest area, geological instabilities and water supply and sanitation-related issues, the source said.

Most of the housing projects completed in the recent past in and around the twin cities have not obtained mandatory Environment Impact Assessment (EIA), the source said.

The most important ele-

ments of the EIA of a housing project is that it should have provision of enough drinking water and solid waste management which is not being built on reserved forest area, the source said.

“There are widespread construction activities, most of them illegal, including the lower stretches of Rawal Dam catchment area, which is seriously affecting water quality of the reservoir,” the source said.

Media has already highlighted the rising levels of pollution in Rawal lake due to the increased construction activities in its catchment area.