PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Wednesday gave three-month time to the provincial government for restoring forest boundaries in Galiyat areas, including Dungagali.

A bench consisting of Justice Syed Arshad Ali and Justice Faheem Wali directed secretary of the forest, climate change and wildlife department Junaid Khan to restore the original position of the forests in Galiyat by Sept 16 and produce a report.

It also directed him to hold a meeting with the officials of the Survey of Pakistan regarding the matter.

The court was hearing a petition filed by Galiyat Tahafuz Movement against multiple notifications issued by the last caretaker provincial government to appoint members of the GDA Board and the subsequent actions of the board and its DG, including facilitating construction of a high-rise building on a “disputed land” called Hilda Estate.

Directs forest secy to hold meeting with Survey of Pakistan officials on the issue

During the previous hearing on May 21, the court had summoned the secretary forest, director general of Galiyat Development Authority (GDA) and other officials as they had failed to comply with its earlier order of restoring forest boundaries in the Dunga Gali, Abbottabad.

Forest secretary Junaid Khan, GDA DG Mohammad Fawad, forest conservator Hayat Ali and other officials appeared in the hearing.

Justice Arshad Ali remarked that the number of hotels in Galiyat had increased so much that it had badly impacted the environment.

At the start of the hearing, the petitioner’s counsel, Babar Khan Yousafzai, read out the order from the previous hearing.

The bench asked the forest secretary about progress on the matter.

The secretary submitted a report, saying he convened a meeting on June 8 to review the latest situation.

He said that the Survey of Pakistan had conducted a demarcation survey of the Gallies Reserved Forests measuring 307,424 kanals during the year 2015-16, wherein the 7616 kanals of encroached land was identified.

The secretary said that during an anti-encroachment campaign 6632 kanals were retrieved, while 984 kanals remained under encroachment. He added that a fresh survey was conducted in 2020-21, showing 1,017 kanal of encroached land. Out of that land, 744 kanals have been retrieved, with 243 kanal remaining under encroachment mostly due to litigation.

The secretary said that the anti-encroachment drive continued resulting in retrieval of an additional 58.3 kanals of land, reducing the remaining encroached area to 184.8 kanals.

He claimed that as of June 8, the total remaining encroached area stood at 159 kanals out of which 45.45 kanals were under litigation while 113.5 kanals represent discrepancies between the revenue and forest department records.

The secretary stated that the biggest problem in Galiyat was the revenue record; as according to some records, the land belonged to the forest department, while elsewhere the same land was shown as private ownership.

The bench observed that the secretary had the responsibility to review the alterations made to the records and formally raise the matter with the revenue department.

It added that it simply wanted the forest area identified according to the Survey of Pakistan maps from 2015 and 2016 to be restored to its previous status and action taken against encroachers.

The secretary told the court that they were working jointly with the GDA on this issue. He added that demarcation had been carried out, and three surveys had been conducted that identified various locations as part of the forest.

The bench observed that given the current situation of the forests in Nathiagali, it would turn from a healthy, pleasant place into a hot spot in the future due to the large-scale increase in hotels, which had impacted the environment.

Justice Arshad stressed the need to preserve these forests for the new generation and said that while the court could only issue orders, the administration had to do the work.

GDA DG Mohammad Fawad informed the court that no new NOCs were currently being issued.

He said new building rules had been framed under which NOCs and construction permits, spread over seven stages, would only be granted on non-forest land within GDA’s jurisdiction.

The bench inquired whether building hotels would develop Galiyat. It also pointed out hours -long traffic jams in Galiyat areas.

The DG responded that they were paying attention to this issue, and he was personally overseeing it and that their job was to make Galiyat safe and that no commercial building was being permitted on any GDA land.

When the bench asked the secretary how much time he needed to restore the forest boundaries, he replied that it was a technical task requiring at least three months.

Published in Dawn, June 11th, 2026