Islamabad witnessed a ‘development boom’ in 2022. And the cost?
slamabad saw a land boom in 2022. Over the year, the capital saw a thriving real estate market and the citizens were witnesses to a frenzy of developmental projects, preceded by ribbon-cutting ceremonies and followed by persistent inconvenience.
The Bhara Kahu bypass, the 10th Avenue, the Rawal Dam flyover, the extension of Metro route and the addition of new sectors to the city are just some of the mega projects in the pipeline. At the same time, there was an increase in the number of gated communities.
While some of the projects, like the extension of Metro bus route, were needed, the same cannot be said for others like the 10th Avenue and the Bhara Kahu underpass. These projects have drawn the ire of environmentalists, urban planners and activists for being exclusionary and unsustainable.
“The authorities are focusing on infrastructure-based development. This is worrying if you consider the fact that a sprawl-based, car-priority paradigm already underpins the city’s planning and policy making,” says Ayesha Shahid, an urban planner and environmentalist.
Shahid says such a paradigm benefits the residents of gated societies, suburban housing schemes and real estate speculators at the cost of the marginalised working class, protected nature reserves of the city and the air quality. “The policy priorities are exacerbating the existing inequalities and lack the voice and participation of the city’s majority populations,” she says. She worries that Islamabad is developing by selling its lands for profit and using the proceeds to subsidise unsustainable lifestyles of an urban elite.
The Bhara Kahu bypass
The Bhara Kahu Bypass, initially planned on another alignment, was rerouted to bisect Quaid-i-Azam University. Located within the Margalla Hills National Park zone, the campus is a protected area. According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), no highways, high-rises or commercial enterprises can be set up in protected areas.
The proposed bypass cuts the university campus into two. There is a stretch of 0.5 kilometres between Murree Road and the proposed bypass on which QAU’s botanical gardens and faculty housing are situated. The gardens are home to some rare and endangered plant species. The construction will bring noise and air pollution to the once serene faculty housing and the campus.
On the other side of the highway, at a distance of only 70 feet there will be the National Institute of Pakistan Studies and QAUs Psychology Department. The highway noise and pollution are a foregone consequence. The highway will also compromise security at the university.
“The CDA has already acquired QAU land near Muree Road,” said Ikram Buzdar, an MPhil student who was at the forefront of the #HandsoffQAU movement. “The land allotted to the university in exchange is in the mountains. Any construction there would destroy the natural ecosystem of the area,” he said.
According to Buzdar, the master plan was altered to include the campus. “The law says that a 110 feet corridor must be left on both sides of a highway. However, on this route some of the land has been illegally occupied,” he said. “There are encroachments by shopkeepers and residents. There is even a petrol pump along the original route,” he said. “Construction along the original route would bring the CDA face to face with the encroachers.”
Buzdar said fearing pushback from the encroachers the officials had decided to build the highway through the campus instead. He alleged that the CDA had “stealthily” completed construction work on both sides of the campus. “Only afterwards, it claimed that if the highway is not allowed, the state would incur heavy losses,” he told TNS.
“The CDA demolished a wall on QAU property and began construction before the [environmental impact assessment] report was produced. The official sent from the Ministry of Climate Change to compile the report invited the CDA official to chair alongside her and was seen taking instructions from him,” he said. “So it came as no surprise when the Ministry of Climate Change gave the project a green signal. Construction began shortly after that,” added Buzdar.
Some student bodies organised protests and started the #HandsoffQAU campaign to voice their reservations. They also announced a campus-wide strike that led to a 20-day shutdown of the university. Employee Association and Academic Staff Association have also been organising protests and teachers are holding “teach-ins” at the construction site.
The 10th Avenue
The 10th Avenue project aims to connect Margalla Road with Srinagar Highway. Funds for construction will be provided by the federal government under its Public Sector Development Programme. It is expected to be completed by the end of 2023.
"The project is set to displace a number of residents of Rimsha Colony. The kachi abadi is inhabited predominantly by a working-class Christian community. Rimsha Colony has existed for more than 40 years and houses almost 40,000 people. Now its residents have been declared illegal occupants of the land."
“My parents moved here from the Punjab fifty years ago. This is the only home I have known. I have worked hard all my life to build this house but now they are calling us illegal occupants and asking us to leave,” said Nooran Bibi. “Where will I go? I am old and frail and have no money” she says.
Irshad a young man from Rimsha Colony says, “Most people still think it is a rumour. Others are worried about their homes and families. I am young. I can find work and move on. But where will the old people go? Why is there no respect for the Christian community when the constitution safeguards our right to life and property?”
“The CDA’s obsession with road building speaks to both an elitist and ecologically destructive planning paradigm. Both the 10th Avenue and the Bhara Kahu Bypass project serve the interests of construction lobbies whilst supplementing demand for motor vehicles,” says Aasim Sajjad Akhtar, who teaches at the QAU. “Instead of investing in universal public transport and thereby improving societal welfare and reducing long-term environmental costs, the CDA is bulldozing the country’s prime public university and the working poor,” he says.
The takeaway
Much of Islamabad’s development has resulted in shrinking its green belts, displacing the poor, increasing noise and air pollution, depleting aquifers and a drastic change in its ecology. The CDA’s concept of development is inherently exclusionary and unsustainable.
Such development models bear a huge environmental and social cost. Pakistan is one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change.
Development, including urban development needs to be in harmony with the geography and local needs. It needs to be sustainable, people-centric and inclusive. Islamabad is one of the most beautiful capitals in the world. Its hills, tree-lined streets and clean air should be preserved.
The writer is a political worker and activist who works at a think tank for environment andenergy policy.