Construction of five-star hotel in Nathiagali opposed

ABBOTTABAD: The Galiyat Tahaffuz Movement, an organisation working to protect the environment, has expressed concern over the foundation stone laying for a five-star hotel’s construction at scenic Nathiagali valley.

Chairman Sardar Sabir and general secretary Sardar Iftikhar of the organization told the media on Sunday a multistory hotel was being constructed on the land of Ayubia National Park by encroaching on the forest without fulfilling the legal process.

They said it was disgusting that neither the Environmental Impact Assessment for construction of the hotel had been made, nor soil tests conducted as the patch of land was situated at the ridge of the forest.

The environment body representatives said it was a non-technical and non-professional decision made in haphazard manners by the government which would cause irreparable loss to the ecosystem of Galiyat.

The conservationists opposed the project and suggested to the government to review the decision to safeguard the public interest. They believed that Prime Minister Imran Khan was reneging on his own promises of protection of the environment, especially forests in the wake of climatic changes.

The environment activists recalled that Imran Khan had announced to plant a billion trees in KP during the first tenure of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government in KP and after assuming prime minister office in 2018 had announced to plant 5/10 billion trees in the entire country.

They said the PTI government renewed commitments time and again to protect the environment and preserve forests but the actions being taken were contrary to these commitments. The environment activists said the KP government decision to allow construction of a multistory five-star hotel in Nathiagali was a clear violation of the national laws and international obligations.

They said the local community and civil society organizations rejected the hotel construction plan and demanded the government to stop the project which they said was an anti-environment scheme. The environmental activists said they would opt for the legal course if this project was not stopped by the government.

Meanwhile, it was learnt that the Divisional Forest Officer Wildlife Department in a letter addressed to Director-General Galiyat of the Development Authority had asked for halting the construction work on the hotel as the land was sited in the forest of the Ayubia National Park.

The copy of the letter available with this correspondent stated that KP Wildlife Biodiversity Act 2015 restricted such high rise construction in the national park and no high rise construction in a protected area may be made at the cost of the ecosystem.