• CDA notice says environmentally-sensitive area has been encroached upon
• Building to be razed at sole risk, cost of encroacher if order not complied with
• Naval authorities informed farmland to be taken over

ISLAMABAD: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) on Monday gave Pakistan Navy 72 hours to remove valuable or removable equipment from the site of its sailing club which it will demolish as per the orders of the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

In another development, the CDA also informed the naval authorities that its farming scheme on Simly Dam Road had been declared illegal and the civic agency has decided to take over the land.

Through a notice, the CDA stated: “It is hereby directed that valuable and removable equipment from the site be removed within 72 hours after issuance of this notice.

“Please note that in case this order is not complied within 72 hours, the building and all allied structure shall be demolished/removed including all its permanent or removable fixtures by using force (including police force) by CDA at the sole risk and cost of the encroacher.”

As per the notice, naval authorities have encroached upon notified environmentally-sensitive area around Rawal Lake by establishing a sailing club in violation of the Islamabad Capital Territory Zoning Regulations 1992 in which it was notified as the Margalla Hills National Park area in Zone III.

Besides, structures have been built thereon, which are also in violation of various provisions of the governing laws.

“Owing to said encroachment of land and illegal/unauthorised construction, Rawal Lake is being polluted which is imminent danger for restoration of the habitat. CDA had time and again served notices for stoppage of these illegal activities but the same are not complied with,” read the notice, adding that the land was neither allotted nor approved for any such construction by the CDA.

The notice said the club had already been sealed by the CDA pursuant to the orders of the IHC on a writ petition.

The high court had decided the petition on Jan 7, 2022, directing the civic agency to raze the building within three weeks.

In compliance with the IHC orders and “in exercise of its statutory powers, the unauthorised and illegal structure established by Pakistan Navy at the bank of Rawal Lake shall be demolished within the timeframe [three weeks],” it added.

Through another notice issued to the director Navy Farms, the CDA’s director regional planning said an NOC issued on 13-03-1993 granting Pakistan Navy Agro Farming Scheme, Simly Dam Road Zone-IV an area measuring 2,343 kanals stood illegal. According to the notice, the scheme “stands declared illegal and CDA has to take over the land covered under the said NOC and thereafter process strictly in accordance with CDA ordinance 1960”.

It further said: “You are put on notice of seven days that CDA shall assume control of PN Farms and proceed in accordance with law. For this purpose, you are directed to remain ready for handing taking over of all the documents, record pertaining to land, works, allotments and other affairs of PN Farms.”

Last week, the IHC declared the navy’s sailing club and farmhouses constructed on the national park land illegal and ordered their demolition. It also issued directions to initiate criminal proceedings against former naval chief Zafar Mehmud Abbasi and other officials for approving the illegal constructions.

In a 45-page judgement, IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah ordered the CDA to take over the naval farmhouses, saying the navy had “trespassed on the land situated on the embankment of Rawal Lake and that too in a protected national park area”.

It noted that the club building “shall not be regularised in any manner for having been illegally constructed in an ecologically-sensitive area in violation of the mandatory provisions.”

The court declared that the occupation of the land was “illegal, without lawful authority and jurisdiction”, and ordered the navy to cease activities on Rawal Lake and hand over the land to the Small Dams Organisation.

It directed the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) to restore the natural habitat in the lake’s surroundings, appointing environmental law expert Dr Pervaiz Hassan as a one-person implementation commission to give effect to the environment commission’s recommendations about Rawal Lake and investigate the environmental damage caused.

In addition, the auditor general has been directed to “conduct a forensic audit of the PN farms and sailing club to ascertain the loss caused to the exchequer which shall be recovered from the officers found responsible for committing illegalities in relation to the respective ventures”.

In a written response in Aug 2020, former naval chief Zafar Mehmud Abbasi had claimed that the facility on the banks of Rawal Lake was “neither a club in the traditional sense nor a commercial enterprise,” adding the sports facility had been established on the federal government’s directive after obtaining approval from environmental experts.

In the verdict, the IHC chief justice noted that the two ventures - PN farms and the PN sailing club - were directly or indirectly undertaken by the navy illegally and executed in violation of the enforced law. Criticising the role of civic agencies such as the CDA and the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency, the judgement noted: “The relevant authorities and regulators looked the other way and felt satisfied with the issuance of notices as a mere formality.”

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court Bar Association (SCBA) on Monday welcomed what it called a “landmark” decision of the IHC.

“The IHC judgement is an example of independent and robust judiciary upholding the rule of law,” said a statement issued on behalf of SCBA Secretary Waseem Mumtaz Malik.

“The SCBA hopes that the decision of the IHC will be fully implemented and the principles laid down in the judgement will be adhered to in future projects by the government and state institutions,” the statement said.

— Nasir Iqbal also contributed to the story

Published in Dawn, January 11th, 2022