Ayubia Chairlift Causes Discord Between KP’s Wildlife Department & GDA

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Wildlife Department and the Galiyat Development Authority have got into a disagreement over the reinstallation of the Ayubia chair lift.

According to the Wildlife Department, GDA has leased  Ayubia National Park’s 60 kanal land which violates the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Wildlife and Biodiversity Act 2015 and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Forest Ordinance 2002.

However, GDA claims that they are launching the chairlift project on the same track where the old chair lift had been operating since 1963.

The Divisional Forest Officer Wildlife Division Abbottabad addressed a letter to the director-general GDA dated 26 August 2021 in which the officer said that according to Ayubia National Park, GDA had leased out an area of 110 kanal land to a group for 40 years.

The officer said that the leased out land also included 60 kanals that belonged to the Ayubia National Park, adding that GDA leased it in violation of the rules.

He said that the Ayubia National Park aims to protect and preserve the flora and fauna and biological diversity, however, if high-rise buildings are constructed on that land, as proposed in the master plan of the project, it would have a negative impact on the environment.