ISLAMABAD    -   The Capital Street Project of the Capital Development Authority is likely to face legal obstacles as it is being launched in the area falling under Margalla Hills Na­tional Park.

The city managers have placed around 50 plots measur­ing one kanal each and 15 small shops in the vicinity of the old arts and craft village for open auction to attract national and international food brands.

The project is titled ‘Capital Street’ and it is being claimed that the project will be estab­lished on the pattern of City Walk Dubai and Nizami Street Baku. Sources told that the proj­ect is a brain child of a former Chairman CDA.

A three-day long open auction in this regard will be started from 10th May 2023 and suc­cessful bidders will be given these plots on 33 years long lease, which will be further ex­tendable on Deputy Commis­sioner’s notified rates in the area at that time.

The project will have its own pedestrian boulevard and streets while building plans are promised to be approved in one month. 

However, circles concerned consider the move as against the prevailing laws because the area falls under the definition of Mar­galla Hills National Park.

A senior town planner while talking on the issue informed that the said area falling be­tween Srinagar Highway, Murree Road and Islamabad Express­way was initially categorized as ‘Sports Centre’ in the master plan of Islamabad.

But, later in 1979 when the limits of the Margalla Hills Na­tional Park were defined through an official SRO, the same was in­cluded into it—limiting the use of said area.

Furthermore, while formulat­ing zoning regulations in 1992, the same provision could not be rectified and again the area is made part of the Zone-III and Margalla Hills National Park.

Meanwhile, it is evident from the record that earlier a similar move to construct a cricket sta­dium in the same area in 2008 jointly by the Capital Develop­ment Authority and Pakistan Cricket Board was backfired when former bureaucrat Roe­dad Khan challenged it in the Supreme Court.

He had pleaded that a stadium in the area would not be envi­ronmentally feasible and resul­tantly the apex court in 2018 scrapped the project to build a cricket stadium in Shakarparian by handing over control of the site of the under-construction stadium back to the CDA.

A senior officer of the author­ity when questioned said that a purely commercial project is feasible in the area where the stadium could not be allowed by the top court. He said if the city managers want to go into it then they should first get the SRO of the Margalla Hills National Park from the Federal government. 

He said otherwise, there is a likelihood that the project will backfire if challenged in courts as the Supreme Court’s order in this regard is in field.

The Chairperson of the Is­lamabad Wildlife Management Board Raina Saeed Khan when contacted confirmed that the area where Capital Street is go­ing to be launched falls very much under the national park.

She however said as every­body knows that a large portion of land in this area is under insti­tutional control and we will take an official stance once the matter will be discussed in the upcom­ing meeting of the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board—a body currently responsible to look after the affairs of Margalla Hills National Park.

CDA board is set to take up a summary in this regard today in addition to 27 other agendas mostly pertaining to the plan­ning wing of the civic authority.