Pakissan.com; Development works in Margalla Park a threat to flora and fauna

Development works in Margalla Park a threat to flora and fauna

LAHORE (March 27 2003) : Widening of roads and installation of streetlights in Margalla Hills National Park is posing a threat to flora and fauna, and if manmade activities are not controlled, many species would be on the verge of extinction in near future.

Margallah Hills, which was declared a national park in 1980, is a habitat of a wide range of flora and fauna, and it also serves as a natural laboratory for many universities for research purposes.

The main objective of declaring it a national park, was to protect the existing wildlife from manmade activities, which, over the years, has become the main cause behind destruction of natural beauty all over the world.

Lately, Capital Development Authority (CDA) had decided to widen the existing 16-km long road at Six-point in the Park to accommodate the growing number of visitors inn cars. In order to facilitate the visitors at night, the CDA had also placed a large number of streetlights alongside the roads in the Park.

This step would definitely encourage more visitors to the Park and educate the general public on natural habitats, but many environmentalists fear that it would alter the living pattern of fauna and spoil the natural beauty, thus it would imbalance the prevailing ecosystem of the Margallah Hills.

They say that increase in visitors would exacerbate the existing litter problem. It was observed by Business Recorder during recent visit to the Margallah Hills that half eaten food and litter was seen alongside the roads, which had become a source of feed for many animals and birds.

Hence, small animals and birds in large groups gather around litter on roads and gorge on waste food. According to the environmentalists, this not only changes animals' feeding habits but also make them an easy prey for predators, as they are in the open and void of a natural camouflage.

Thus, an increasing number preys would fall to predators and this would decrease the population of certain species. Moreover, the number of predators would also decrease, as they would have a less number of preys to feed on.

Hence, the prevailing ecosystem balance would be disturbed and many faunas would be pushed towards extinction. In a natural ecological process, a predator would only hunt with difficulty a few preys in a day, which gives a time for its replacement; thus ecosystem balance is kept.

They say that placement of streetlights has also worsen the situation, as many faunas come out at night for feed on roads and are unnecessarily exposed to predators. Thus pressure on certain species has increased. The artificial light would also affect animals and birds sleeping and feeding habits.

The environmentalists pointed out that Margallah Hills was declared a national park under a law, which does not permit any unnecessary development work in the vicinity of the park.

Moreover, no such development could take place in the park that interferes in its ecological balance, they added. They said that with the growing number of visitors, demand for restaurants and hotel would surface. They were of the view that it would be natural for visitors to seek such facilities for refreshment.

If restaurants and hotels were built in the park, the ecosystem of the park would be devastated; right now the CDA has failed to control litter problem in the park, with such development the quantity of litter would multiply.

They feared that Islamabad is a city of influential and it would not be a surprise that some influential uses their authority to construct restaurants and hotels, as it would be a lucrative business, and the CDA would fail to handle the pressure, they added.

While talking to Business Recorder, CDA Director General (Environment) Mazhar Hussain said that the roads in the park have been widen at bands, as narrow curving roads was prone to accidents, thus through such step, the probability of accidents would decrease.

He also said that the objective of streetlights was to give security to increasing number of visitors at night, as dark roads prove insecure. The DG categorically stated that the development work has been carried out within the framework of law, which states that development work should take place in a national park as long as it does not disturb its ecosystem and preserves its natural beauty.

He said that widening of roads and installation of streetlights has not spoiled the natural beauty of Margallah Hills and it would also not disturb its ecosystem. No one would be permitted to ruin Margallah Hills, its unique ecosystem and magnificent beauty would be preserved, he added.

Courtesy Business Recorder

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