SC bars stone crushing on Margalla Hills
ISLAMABAD: The Supreme Court on Thursday ordered the Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments to ensure plantation on stone crushing site and directed to stop stone crushing on Margalla Hills.
A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed and comprised Justice Ijaz Ul Ahsan and Justice Sajjad Ali Shah, heard the suo motu notice case regarding environmental pollution.
During the course of proceedings, the chief justice expressed annoyance over the Capital Development Authority (CDA) chairman and Municipal Corporation Islamabad (MCI) mayor over dirt in the federal capital.
He said Islamabad was the worst capital in terms of pollution. He said there should be some standard of the city and asked the CDA and MCI to provide facilities to the citizens.
He said there should be a place for people to sit, walk and entertain.
He said it should be ensured that laws on environmental pollution comply with the industrial area.
He said there should be a food authority for Islamabad which examined the quality. He said there should be national flags everywhere from the airport to the presidency.
The chief justice said the CDA had no control over its employees as a clerk was more powerful than the chairman.
The chief justice asked the MCI mayor why transport facilities were not being provided to the residents of Islamabad.
He asked him to do nothing but at least run rickshaws so that women could travel safely.
The court directed the National Industrial Relations Commission (NIRC) to decide the cases of CDA employees regarding transfer and submit a report in this regard in two weeks.
The bench asked the NIRC to decide all cases of CDA in six months.
The court also sought a reply from the interior secretary on the transfer of municipal powers.
He asked the secretary interior to appear before the court on next date of hearing and inform about steps taken for implementation of Article 140 A. - APP