ISLAMABAD: In the wake of concerns raised by the residents of Islamabad, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) on Tuesday said there will be no commercial activity and the hard structure will be kept at a bare minimum level in F-7 Zaheeruddin Mohammad Babar Park.

The park is being built by the brotherly country of Uzbekistan through their own funding and supervision on a greenbelt in F-7/1 along Faisal Avenue as a gift for residents of Islamabad. It is expected that the Uzbekistan president will inaugurate the park during his visit to Islamabad likely next month.

Earlier, an ice cream parlour and coffee shop were also part of this project. However, sources said the CDA decided to skip these two components, and it was decided that the structure of the library would be made from wood only.

“No tree will be cut down for this project, rather more trees will be planted. Use of hard components will be reduced to a significant level,” said an officer of the CDA.

To a query about concerns being raised by citizens of the area, the officer said: “We have already decided to end proposed commercial components of the project like ice cream parlour, coffee shop etc., so there is no justification for the citizens to be concerned about. If some people are opposing this park, some are also supporting it,” he said, adding that the revised design will be shared with the relevant citizens before moving forward.

He said another friendly country had renovated and upgraded a park adjacent to this proposed park across Faisal Avenue on a greenbelt in F-8 sector where a large number of citizens enjoy the facility on a daily basis.

“An open gym, badminton courts, swings etc., will be set up in this park for the benefit of the public; we must be thankful to our brotherly country Uzbekistan for this gift,” the officer said, adding that setting up of this park was decided at the federal government level.

When asked about installation of a statue of Mughal Emperor Zaheeruddin Mohammad Babur, another officer of the CDA confirmed that the statue would be installed on the same pattern as other statues in Kachnar Park, and those of Quaid-i-Azam and Allama Iqbal’s on the edge of Srinagar Highway.

Earlier, on Monday concerned residents of F-7 sector opposed CDA’s move of setting up the park.

Addressing a press conference at the National Press Club, President of Mohalla Committee (neighborhood committee) of Sector F-7 Dr Afzal Malik, general secretary Ali Bukhari, Khawaja Yasin and others demanded all construction activities involving the permanent structure on F-7/1 greenbelt be immediately stopped.

They warned that converting green areas into concrete structures would aggravate environmental pollution and increase the risks associated with climate change.

Meanwhile, a delegation of the said Mohalla Committee comprising around 20 people met Chairman CDA Lt (retired) Sohail Ashraf and member environment Abdullah Khurram Niazi on Tuesday and shared their concerns with them.

Mr Ashraf chaired the meeting and assured the citizens that their concerns would be addressed, but he made it clear that there was no question of shifting the site.

Sources quoted the chairman as saying that there will be no commercial activity, no tree cutting and utmost efforts would be made to end concrete from this project.

The citizens were told that the project’s design would be amended and the same would be shared with them for their satisfaction before re-starting work.

Published in Dawn, July 8th, 2026