Parking at green belts damaging environment

ISLAMABAD: The inadequate public transport facility, insufficient parking spaces and an increase in vertical growth in the housing sector are some of the major factors behind the misuse of green belts across the residential and commercial areas of the federal capital to create parking spaces that consequently result in environmental degradation.

The plan of Islamabad was laid in such a way that each sector separates from the other with the provision of essential big green areas. Within the sectors, too, lot of open areas are allocated for parks and green belts to make the overall atmosphere of the capital pleasant and beautiful. But laxity on part of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) has resultantly ruined the environment of the city.

The illegal constructions at the green belts, particularly on banks of nullahs — constructed mainly as rainwater drains — are in abundance while the green areas near the commercial areas and adjacent to the private and public sector offices are misused as illegal parking lots.

The anti-encroachment staff of the civic body, in some cases, seems reluctant to take action against the encroachers due to the fear of the influence of public sector departments while most of the cases are subdued because of vested interests regarding the cases of commercial ventures like hotels and other business entities.

A resident of Sector I-8/3 Mohammad Amin has blamed the commercial plazas’ managements for leaving no parking spaces.

“The shoppers and also those people who have offices in the plazas are left with no other option but to park their vehicles on the green belt”, he observed.

It has been noticed that in order to create parking spaces, trees are chopped by the parking mafia, and obviously new plants cannot take roots in the encroached parking areas, so eventually the green area turns into a parking lot, he explained.

Public sector entities including the NHA, PMDC, IRSA, and others have set up parking lots at the green belt along the service road of Sector G-10. The government offices along the Mauve Area of G-9 to G-13 have converted almost 70 to 80 per cent of the green belt, bifurcating the service road and the Srinagar Highway into illegal parking lots. Over the passage of time, the vegetation in most of the makeshift illegal parking areas has thinned out and at places it has been completely wiped out.

The CDA’s Anti-Encroachment Department has said that they have taken action against the illegal conversion of green belts into parking areas but in most cases the public and private sector entities responsible have taken stay orders from the court against any further action by the CDA.

However, insiders in the civic body have informed Bol News that in most of the cases, the illegal establishments have been made in connivance with the CDA officials for obvious reasons.

The sources further informed that the green areas in front of the marquees, mostly in the E-11 Sector, were converted into parking lots, but the CDA officials have turned a blind eye as the owners of the marriage halls and marquees are allegedly greasing their palms. Despite complaints from the residents of E-11 and D-12 sectors regarding the encroachments at the green belt, the CDA has not taken appropriate actions against the illegal marquees and halls constructed in the area.

Another reason that leads to the overcrowding of vehicles and parking problems in Islamabad is the lack of adequate public transport facility in the capital city that has left the general public with no other option but to use their own vehicle that leads to excessive traffic, a businessman in the Blue Area claimed.

So, if the CDA wanted to reduce the traffic pressure at the city streets, it has to come up with an efficient public transport system in the city to minimize the number of vehicles on the roads, he suggested

He said that despite having parking spaces at either side of the Blue Area markets, the traffic is messed up throughout the day due to lack of planning.

Even the traffic situation in the twin city Rawalpindi is better than the modern commercial area of the federal capital, he commented. A source requesting anonymity has apprised that the CDA was supposed to build five multistorey parking plazas at various points in the Blue Area but the civic body has not yet started the paperwork with regard to the projects.  He informed Bol News that the traders’ body of the Blue Area has many a times raised the issue with the CDA chairman but to no avail.

Bol News has learnt that there are illegal bus terminals on the CDA land at Faizabad and its adjoining areas. Most of the terminals are currently using the green belts along the IJP Road, the boundary line between the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad, for parking and other purposes, sources have revealed.

Environmental experts and urban developers commenting on the dismal situation have said that the CDA needs to come up with proactive policies toward provision of adequate public transport facility, construction of parking plazas at congested places and taking strict measures to make the public and private sector entities adhere to the CDA bylaws regarding the misuse of green belts.

photos: Mian Khursheed/Bol News