ISLAMABAD – A month after the closure of Monal restaurant, the Ministry of Climate Change and Pakistan Environment Protection Agency issued notices to two other hilltop eateries, La Montana and Gloria Jeans, ordering them to immediately stop operating in the National Park.
The famous restaurants, located in the vicinity of the Margalla National Hills Park, have been ordered to relocate by mid-March and transfer ownership of the lands to the Islamabad Wildlife and Management Board.
The restaurants were established without environmental approvals while the managements didn’t provide plans for solid waste management, sewerage water, and drinking water supply despite several notices, the notification issued under section 16 (2) of EPA Act 1997 cited.
Yesterday Pak-EPA held hearings & issued ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION ORDERS to both La Montana & Gloria Jeans! Both have been dumping sewage, waste into Margallah hills national park. Both restaurants were made without any environmental approvals! Time to reclaim MHNP @WildlifeBoard pic.twitter.com/I4QTgzJ8Fz
— Rina S Khan Satti (@rinasaeed) February 18, 2022
Islamabad Wildlife Management Board (IWMB) will take possession of both premises after March 17.
Last month, the Islamabad High Court ordered authorities to seal Islamabad’s Monal Restaurant and also take over the Navy Golf Course by close of business today. IHC Chief Justice Athar Minallah presided over the case and directed authorities to vacate all encroachments on the Margalla Hills National Park.
The national park’s land belongs to the state and no commercial activities can be carried out here, the court ruled.
Supreme Court trashes plea against sealing of Monal restaurant
Court also remarked that protection of ecosystems and natural habitat is a constitutional obligation of the state, its institutions, and public dignitaries and the destruction of the national park is violative of the fundamental rights of the people of Pakistan and saving it from harm is the inviolable duty of the State.
Meanwhile, the land of Monal has now been handed over to the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board and a Wildlife Educational Centre is on the cards to raise awareness about the protection and preservation of Margalla Hills.
Pakistan’s first leopard preservation zone inaugurated at Margalla Hills
