ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) on Saturday requested the Supreme Court to order the federal government and the Capital Development Authority (CDA) to take meaningful steps for the protection, preservation, conservation and management of wildlife as well as preservation, conservation and management of the Margalla Hills National Park (MHNP).

Filed by Umer Ijaz Gilani on behalf of IWMB, a petition requested the apex court to direct the respondents namely CDA, Ministry of Climate Change, the chief commissioner Islamabad Capital Territory (ICT) and the inspector general police (ICT) to collaborate with the IWMP and immediately vacate the information centres on Trail 5 and 6 and restrain the CDA from seizing the animal sanctuary maintained by the board in the foothills of the Margalla Hills.

The petitioner also requested the Supreme Court to order the IGP to ensure proper investigation into a complaint filed by the board’s personnel against those who seized the information centres on Trail 5 and 6 on Feb 15.

The respondents should also be directed to fulfill their duties and ensure strict compliance with the laws related to the environment and the wildlife and inquire into the fate of “The Islamabad Nature Conservation and Wildlife Management Act 2023” - a bill moved by the government which was approved by both houses of parliament but has since mysteriously disappeared.

The petition alleged that CDA had been repeatedly taking illegal actions making it virtually impossible for the board to continue performing its core duties. It has become impossible for the board to focus on conservation and preservation of the national park and wildlife.

The petition alleged that on Feb 15, 50 to 60 CDA officers stormed the visitor information centres located at the edge of Trail 5 and Trail 6 and the field office in Kalinjher.

They came without any prior notice or intimation and took the board’s staff by surprise.

They destroyed the locks, broke in and forcefully dispossessed the staff.

They also threw all the belongings of the board, including display screens outside the building.

The said this was a blatant act of harassment and usurpation by the CDA against which the board registered its protest but no heed was paid to it.

“The present situation is inevitably linked with the ills of massive concentration of powers – a situation which is bound to arise when a single individual holds the posts of chairman CDA and chief commissioner ICT. This situation, which is not only illegal but also detrimental to the fundamental rights of the city’s people and its wildlife, in itself must be examined by the apex court,” the petition argued.

The CDA’s takeover of the information centres is illegal because it was done without any notice and any justification, the petition added.

Furthermore, these structures were not built by CDA, to begin with.

They were built by the Himalayan Wildlife Foundation, a non-profit organization, and the board had made considerable investment in their maintenance since taking them over.

“CDA’s coercive usurpation of the visitor information centers and the field office at Kalinjher is not only illegal and arbitrary, it is interfering with the board’s performance of its statutory duties. This, in turn, is going to be detrimental for citizen’s enjoyment of their fundamental rights,” the petition pleaded.

As a result of machinations by CDA, the board is being starved of funds and has been functioning under extremely difficult circumstances.

The government only pays salaries and covers some operation costs, but these are not enough for the proper maintenance of the national park and the wildlife rescue centre, said the petition.

It is worth noting that as a land development authority, the CDA simply does not possess either the expertise or the right vision for managing wildlife-related matters. If the CDA and its environment directorate were up to the task, why would legislators have set up the wildlife board? Yet, for reasons which might be related to commercial lobbies, the CDA keeps interfering in the wildlife board’s domain, the petition alleged.

Published in Dawn, February 18th, 2024