BY: Syed Fawad Ali Shah
ISLAMABAD – The Mines and Mineral Department of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa has exceeded its authority by allotting a phosphate lease on forest land in Abbottabad district to a favored individual, first for seven years and then for thirty years. According to documents in possession of Azad Urdu, despite a clear court ruling, the prospecting lease was converted into a mineral lease and granted to one Zahir Gul in June 2008. This decision has caused significant environmental damage, with valuable trees in the province’s forests being felled, and mining activities endangering surrounding wildlife. It is also worth noting that the Mineral Department is undermining the success of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Billion Tree Tsunami project. According to documents, this land spans 80 acres in the Kakul area of Abbottabad, located 18 kilometers south of Abbottabad city behind the Pakistan Military Academy Kakul. The lease was first applied for in 2005, and in 2008, the Mines Department granted a five-year phosphate lease on the land, later extending it by one year at a time. Local resident Junaid Khan, son of Khan Afsar Khan from Kakul Abbottabad, approached the court due to concerns about the potential harm to the nearby population from hazardous mining activities. As a result, mining operations were halted from 2015 to 2020. On December 11, 2020, despite a High Court order, Assistant Director Technical of the Mines and Mineral Department, Mohammad Riyaz, sent paperwork to convert the prospecting lease into a mineral lease. The Mineral Title Committee (MTC) of the Mines Department approved this conversion, despite objections from the Deputy Secretary of Forests. The lease, which spans 99 years, was granted for a total area of 86 acres, with 29 acres of it being reserved forest land. However, the MTC only allowed the leasing of six acres, and the remaining 23 acres cannot be leased under any circumstances. Sources indicate that all previous applications for phosphate leases on this land were rejected because it is forest land. A similar application was rejected on January 31, 2024, for the same reason. There has been ongoing correspondence between the Forest Department, the Commissioner of Abbottabad, and the Mines and Mineral Department to retrieve the land from the illegal lease, but no significant progress has been made. On November 14, 2020, the Forest Department sent a letter to the Mines and Mineral Department, requesting the cancellation of the lease and the cessation of mining activities. In response, the Assistant Director of Development at the Mines Department, in a statement dated May 28, 2021, falsely claimed that canceling the lease and stopping mining would constitute contempt of court, and urged the Forest Department not to interfere. On August 21, 2023, the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) sent a letter to the Assistant Director of Mining, highlighting that 1.2 acres of the reserved forest had been damaged, 36 trees had fallen, and the surrounding area was experiencing landslides, with additional threats to the local forest. The Forest Department stated that several official communications had been sent to the Mines Department to stop the illegal mining, but the department had remained silent. Furthermore, the Forest Department emphasized that the land is designated as public grazing land, according to the land demarcation report. Frustrated with the lack of action, a Sub-Divisional Forest Officer (SDFO) sent a letter on September 8, 2023, to the District Police Officer, requesting the filing of an FIR against the leaseholder and the deployment of police officers to stop the illegal mining. Earlier, on August 22, 2022, the Forest Department’s Secretary had sent a letter to the Commissioner of Hazara, requesting the immediate implementation of Section 144 and the eviction of the leaseholder. Following this, the Commissioner issued an official letter to the Deputy Commissioner of Abbottabad to enforce Section 144 the very next day. However, due to the full support of Deputy Director of Mines and Minerals Hazara, Mohammad Riyaz, these efforts proved ineffective, and illegal mining continued unabated. On April 8, 2024, the Commissioner of Hazara sent a letter to the Secretary of Mines and Minerals, requesting the immediate cancellation of the phosphate lease, referencing Section 34, 35, and 96 of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mines and Mineral Act 2017, which prohibits mining on public property. However, no action was taken. In October 2024, the Forest Department filed cases against the violators under the Forest Laws. It is also important to note that an inquiry into this matter is currently ongoing at the National Accountability Bureau (NAB). This ongoing issue raises significant concerns regarding illegal mining activities on forest land and its adverse effects on the environment, wildlife, and the public. Despite numerous official communications and legal challenges, the authorities’ lack of action has allowed the situation to persist, endangering the future of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s natural resources and environmental projects.
The writer is a senior Journalist He can be reached at pmpk55@hotmail.com
