Islamabad: The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the authorities concerned to halt the expansion work of the Monal Restaurant (located in the protected Margalla Hills National Park) over environmental concerns, according to news sources.
The five-judge SC bench presiding over the case directed the Islamabad administration to replant the trees that were felled during the said restaurant’s attempted efforts to expand. As a result, the restaurant has been sealed by the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (Pak-EPA) and the chief commissioner’s office has launch legal proceedings. Additionally, the climate change ministry has clarified that the rumours claiming that the said trees were eliminated for the safety of people and property from expected summer forest fires, were completely untrue.
The apex court observed that 500 to 1,000 trees had been felled for the Monal Restaurant’s expansion project. The SC bench was informed that a former chairman of the Capital Development Authority had allowed the restaurant to be developed in the national park.
In response, an SC judge said that the Margalla Hills was a national park and heritage site, and that as a result no part of its land could be allotted for commercial or residential purposes. The court declared that all constructions in the area were thus unlawful.
During the proceedings, Spokesperson Climate Change Ministry Mohammad Saleem revealed that the Pak-EPA had lodged an FIR against all the restaurants built in the Margalla Hills National Park for damaging its ecosystem and increasing pollution in the area.
In addition, the Environment Wing of the Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) recently initiated a replantation drive on the 100 kanals of land cleared for the Monal Restaurant’s expansion project. Reportedly, in the first phase of the initiative, over 1,125 saplings of mixed-species are expected to be planted to restore the plantation and grass cover in the area.
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