ISLAMABAD: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has kicked off the much-delayed process to mark the boundary of Margalla Hills National Park (MHNP).

The Islamabad High Court (IHC) in January last year asked the CDA to demarcate the boundaries of MHNP within 60 days.

However, the CDA failed to comply with the IHC order.

A few days ago, the civic agency started erecting pillars in Sinyari as the Survey of Pakistan is engaged in the identification of boundaries.

“This is a continuous process; we install pillars as soon as the Survey of Pakistan identifies the location,” said an official of CDA.

Official says process may take two months to complete

He said that in Sinyari, the CDA brought around 150 pillars, which are being erected.

To a query about the timeline, he said that the civic agency wanted to complete this task within two months.

In March last year, the CDA notified a five-member committee for carrying out the demarcation of the national park in light of the IHC ruling.

According to the notification dated March 1, representatives of the defence ministry and the Survey of Pakistan would be the members of the body among others.

“In compliance of part-I(viii) of the Honorable Islamabad High Court’s orders dated 11-01-2022, in a writ petition.. titled Prof. Zahid Baig Mirza vs CDA etc, the…committee is hereby notified to carry out demarcation of the subject area,” read the notification.

According to a copy of the IHC’s judgement, clause (viii) of the order stated, “The respective Secretaries of the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Interior and Chairman CDA shall jointly conduct a survey and demarcate the unharmed area of the notified National Park. The survey and demarcation shall be completed within 60 days from the date of this order.

“They will ensure that no activity or construction is allowed within the notified National Park as mandated under MLR-82, the CDA Ordinance, 1960 and regulations made thereunder, the Islamabad Wildlife (Protection, Preservation, Conservation and Management Ordinance 1979, and the Islamabad Preservation of Landscape Ordinance 1966.”

In January last year, the high court had directed civic agencies to seal the sprawling naval golf course located in the Margalla Hills National Park and ordered its demolition within four weeks unless an environmentally-friendly use can be found for it.

Whereas, the IHC also rejected the military’s claim on over 8,000 acres of national park land and ordered the CDA to seal Monal Restaurant set up in the national park area. It also asked the defence ministry to ensure that the amount received as rent was deposited in the exchequer.

After building Monal, the CDA leased it out for 15 years which expired last year.

However, a few years before the expiry of the lease, the lessee started paying rent to the military, which stated that the land where Monal was constructed belonged to them.

The dispute between the CDA and the restaurant emerged after the latter started paying rent to the General Headquarters (GHQ) instead of the civic agency as the directorate

claimed that the land where the CDA had built Monal, on the basis of a notification from the year 1912, belonged to them.

“The claim of Remount, Veterinary and Farms Directorate of Pakistan Army, regarding 8,068 acres of land in the notified national park area is in violation of the Ordinance of 1979, read with the Ordinance of 1960, and the [Islamabad] Master Plan,” the IHC had declared. Later on, Monal’s operator got a stay order in his favour from Supreme Court.

The CDA’s Zone III comprises over 50,000 acres and out of it, around 30,000 was part of the national park.

The remaining 20,000 acres are private land.

Published in Dawn, August 7th, 2023