Installation of chairlift: PHC issues notices in petition challenging MoU

ABBOTTABAD: The Peshawar High Court’s Abbottabad circuit-bench on Thursday issued notices to the respondents in a writ petition challenging the memorandum of understanding signed between the chief conservator northern region forest and DG Galiyat Development Authority for providing 58 kanals of land to a group at Ayubia for the installation of a chairlift.

The respondents include the chief conservator of forest of Northern Forest Region 11, secretary of Climate Change Forestry, Environment & Wildlife, conservator of Wildlife National Park Services, and director general of Galiyat Development Authority.

The bench, comprising Justice Ejaz Ahmed Khan and Justice Faheem Wali, while admitting the writ, has adjourned the hearing to June 4, 2024.Additional advocate general Basharat Khan, on behalf of the chief conservator of forest, secretary of climate change, conservator of Wildlife National Park, and DFO Wildlife National Park, assured filing of comments before the next date of hearing.

Zafar Iqbal advocate, who filed the writ on behalf of Galiyat Tahaffuz Movement (GTM), challenged the MoU signed by the parties. He termed the MoU between the parties as unlawful and illegal without legal sanctity and requested for declaring the said agreement null and void.

He requested for restraining the parties from initiating any construction and installation of a chairlift, etc.Rashidul Haq Qazi advocate appeared on behalf of the respondents. The petitioner, Sardar Muhammad Sabir and others, claimed that an area of 3322 hectares of reserve forest was declared as Ayubia National Park in 1984, with the primary objective of safeguarding the pristine values of Galiyat and protecting the biological resources of the area.

Galiyat Development Authority (GDA) leased out 110 kanals of land to a group for the installation of a chairlift in Ayubia, despite 60 kanals of the leased land falling within the boundaries of Ayubia National Park.

Zafar Iqbal further claimed that Sections 35 and 36 of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Wildlife and Biodiversity Act 2015 expressly prohibit activities such as alteration of National Park boundaries, defacing, and damaging structures within the confines of a National Park. Ayubia National Park gained international recognition due to its intensive protection and management practices.