The disposal of wastes and sewerage by restaurants and food outlets located in the Margalla Hills National Park (MHNP) poses a major threat to the protected area’s flora and fauna.
Several hotels and recreational areas operating in the national park are progressively eating away at the beauty of the region, making nature enthusiasts wonder why an adequate procedure for disposing of waste produced by these outlets was not developed.
The chairperson of the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB), Rina Saeed Khan, revealed that many of these eateries were established with no Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA), and their unregulated anthropogenic interference is harming the ecosystem.
She named Wild Mild, La Montana, and Des Pardes as the major contributors since their drainage area below contained rubbish dumps and swaths of dirty water mixing with sources of freshwater.
She went on to say that, via joint efforts and litigation, the board was successful in obtaining a groundbreaking judgment against the eateries from the Islamabad High Court (IHC).
The IHC had directed them to halt further incursions in order to protect the national park, as well as to declare the construction of structures; and lease agreements granted to hotels and other business and food outlets; within the protected area to be in violation of Capital Development Authority (CDA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ordinances.
Subsequently, the Supreme Court granted Monal Restaurant a stay order against the IHC ruling. Now that the case is before the Supreme Court, the board is awaiting a ruling on how to continue.
She also alleged that Monal Restaurant’s floodlights were disturbing nocturnal wildlife, pushing them to abandon their homes. Furthermore, traffic congestion and car horns were limiting crossing for animals that are on the verge of extinction already.
A CDA official, on being approached for comment, responded that environmental preservation is not CDA’s job and that the municipal corporation is responsible for the upkeep of roads, parking lots, and their cleanliness only. The EPA is in charge of the problems related to animal protection, habitat preservation, and walking trails.
EPA officials, on the other hand, claimed that the environment watchdog has not granted permission for any business to carry out construction within the national park grounds. The CDA owns the land and is responsible for its protection. The EPA has already played its role by filing cases against La Montana and Gloria Jeans. Over a dozen unlawful restaurants and stores have been detected by the IWMB, and the EPA has issued notifications to them.
Things like these keep happening in Pakistan because all parties responsible are not punished. In this case, the most we will see is the restaurants being sealed or slapped with a fine, but what about the govt. agencies that are responsible for making sure these restaurants follow the instructions and local environmental laws, they must also be punished for not doing their job.
This problem has simple solution, but govt. seems least bit of interested. The govt. agencies can provide a list of do’s and don’ts to the restaurants, which they must follow, if they want to keep operating in the area. And if the restaurants violate these instructions/rules, the related agency must also be punished for taking timely action.
Asi harkaten krny pr inki kutty wali honi chahye ….shamefull act
I once applied for a job position in CDA even though I was overqualified and when I went their for submitting my application. An office boy said if u have no army reference just forgot about serving in CDA. All higher grade position requires huge amount of money. Now I can see how CDA unprofessional staff is responding for the climate change. Same on you. Blame game is on peak. No body would take responsibility.