Chappar hotels, tea stalls, and lawns encroach on Capital’s prime green areas

Islamabad: A National Assembly disclosure has exposed extensive illegal encroachments across Islamabad’s green belts, vacant plots, and public spaces, sparking concerns over environmental degradation and governance failure. The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has identified hundreds of unauthorized lawns, chappar hotels, tea stalls, building material stores, junkyards, and private constructions on green belts in high profile sectors F-6, F-7, F-8, F-10, F-11, G-6, and G-7.Minister for Interior and Narcotics Control Senator Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi confirmed that no new permissions have been granted for using these public plots and that all previous approvals have been cancelled. The CDA Environment Wing conducted a complete survey of encroachments and prepared a comprehensive annexure listing violators along with their addresses and affected areas. Enforcement has already begun in Sector D-12, and operations will soon extend to sectors F-6, F-8, and F-10.The report reveals that in F-6, major encroachments include the FC Barrack Ayub Chowk on 6th Avenue near the Marriot Hotel occupying four kanals, PTCL Parking in F-6/4 on one kanal, Dopiyaza Park lawns at various house numbers ranging from one to two kanals, and multiple chappar hotels near China Market, Green Tower, and Nazim ud din Road. F-7 is also affected with chappar hotels occupying areas between 20 by 20 feet to 40 by 80 feet, building material stores at 40 by 80 feet, and illegal khokhas and junkyards in residential lanes.In F-8 and F-10, encroachments are primarily lawns and back side lawns of residential properties, with some plots covering up to two kanal each. Specific cases in F-10/1 include lawns behind House #86, #82, #78, and #76-A, each ranging from 1.5 to 2 kanal. F-11 sector shows both religious and commercial encroachments, including the Darbar at F-11/3 covering four kanal, sand and bajri stores, juice machines, tea stalls, vegetable shops, and unauthorized residential extensions. Names of encroachers include Abdul Hakeem S/o Dilawar Khan, Muhammad Mustafa S/o Abdul Qayyum, Bashir S/o Shah Muhammad, Malik Nadeem Akhtar S/o Haq Dad Khan, Irfan Ali S/o Abdul Rehman, Darbar Peer Haider Shah Kazmi S/o Ghulam Muhammad Shah Kazmi, and Anar Gul S/o Ahmed Gul among many others.The Green Belts in G-6 and G-7 have also been compromised, with chappar hotels, tea stalls, traffic police barks, Nadra parking, State Bank parking, and multiple private lawns occupying areas ranging from 10 by 10 feet to 3 kanal. These encroachments not only threaten public green space but also obstruct green channels and undermine Islamabad’s environmental planning.CDA officials have emphasized that these encroachments violate urban planning rules and public trust. The enforcement initiative seeks to reclaim these green belts while ensuring compliance with the law, although some violations have persisted for several years due to procedural delays and challenges in evicting violators.