The Rape of Murree

JULY 2003 - A few summers back, having made the cardinal mistake of stopping at Lintotts Murree for tea and sandwiches, we instead got Chicken Boti served on greasy plates, while we gingerly perched on grubby and grease-infected seats covered with last year’s grime. There were no cucumber sandwiches within a few hundred miles of what was once Pakistan’s pristine hill station. And asking, “Is there honey still for tea?” would have elicited loud burps from the shady customers Lintotts was playing host to. The pillage of Murree has been swift and brutal and one is not referring to thin sandwiches served on a lazy afternoon with steaming cups of fresh coffee, while the Mall looks like a picture with swirls of mist floating by.

Because we are fundamentally a society that only knows how to destroy, we have all colluded in destroying Murree. We, the silent and hopeless educated classes with connections and the power and opportunity to make ourselves heard, have instead chosen to remain dumb – like we do in most things that concern us. The evil nexus of estate agents, property developers, greedy commercial enterprise owners, corrupt officials, obsessed with minting money, violators of all our fragile laws and bye laws, administrators from the lowest to the highest who are a party to illegal and environmentally-degrading plans and schemes – all of them are guilty of the slaughter of Murree.

Every law seems to have been flagrantly violated. Officials have been bribed easily, have either joined hands in the loot or at best, looked the other way. Construction in Murree has galloped ahead in the last three decades, without let or hindrance. In spite of dozens of warning signals, reports, proposals and documents, construction has not stopped for a day and chopping of the great pines and other trees that stood guard in the hills of Murree has been ruthless and systematic. Everything that is bad has flourished here. The proliferation of shanty huts passing off as guesthouses and hotels has gone on regardless. These tin-monstrosities of cheap design and even cheaper construction have gone on, regardless of the laws. Most construction, it is now safe to say, has taken place without the formality of an approval by the ‘concerned’ authority, which as we all know from bitter experience is never, ever concerned unless it smells money on the side. The apathy, negligence, corruption and dereliction of duty by hundreds of officials at the tehsil, district and provincial level has finished Murree off swiftly. While a ban was imposed by the toothless Punjab government in August 2002 on further construction unless the authorities approved the plans and building materials, it has been a farce and not an order, because in their haste to plunder and make money, these mild and tepid instructions have simply been ignored or treated with the contempt such inane orders deserve. The mafia of developers, both individuals and companies, has far too much clout and money to worry about some silly legislation. Instead it has only speeded up the illegal building activity in the hills.

Of course calling it hills is a bit of a joke because there are hardly any left. Every inch of land has been carved up and entire forests have been decimated. The swaying sounds of pines and that heavenly fragrant scent that wafted down as you climbed the last few miles to Murree proper, have been replaced by diesel fumes, smells of rotting garbage and the incessant blaring of pressure horns and the collective noise of grubby humanity as it heads up earnestly or returns hurtling towards the plains. Garbage piles or simply washes down with each rainfall into the valleys below. The roads are littered with bottles, wrappers, shoppers, leftovers of meals and every other kind of trash that mankind can produce with such astonishing regularity. As early as 1988, reports – in this case made by the Swiss who know a thing or two about hill stations, warned that the game was up for Murree. It said that the damage was extensive and already beyond repair and unless urgent measures were taken, there would be catastrophic loss of life and property in the years to come. The only urgent measure that this report elicited was to have it chucked into the nearest dustbin. Now, increasingly, landslides are threatening this hill station and since the soil here is highly erodable, deforestation, illegal and wanton construction and gross negligence have turned the threat into disaster that’s round the corner. It is already beginning to happen and it is only a matter of time before entire hillsides, lock, stock and barrel will tilt over and plummet down the slopes, carrying with them the greater Murree, the pride and joy of this country. Thousands will die of course, but that’s not a big deal since human life is pretty cheap in these parts.

A group of citizens, obviously not of sound mind, have moved the High Court to save Murree from complete destruction. It has presented compelling and rational arguments to back up its case and prayed to the court to take immediate action. It has drawn attention to the unfolding of yet another ‘mega’ project, Cecil Silver Apartments at the site of the old Cecil Hotel and have warned that the site cannot take the burden of such a multistory building. Needless to add that the construction and large scale felling of trees has already started in full swing although the scheme has not been officially passed. This should not surprise anyone including their lordships in their chambers, but three days ago the case was due for its second hearing. I wouldn’t hold my breath. What it will mean is another adjournment and another till the project is a living and ugly reality and to hell with the consequences. Perhaps the brain dead people who read this column can move another public appeal, one that might reach the exalted ear of our President who might even see it if he has recovered from what must now be, perpetual jetlag. Murree may not be the greatest hill station in the world – I personally can no longer stand it, but it is the only one we have but it also is clear that we are hell bent to destroy it. Those places that are hard to reach are somewhat safe but those within striking distance don’t stand a chance. Kalam in Swat is already dead and Saif ul Maluk in Kaghan is facing a plastic shopper war that’s polluted its aquamarine lake and is swiftly killing the fish. Now all the lake has, is garbage and human debris.

In the meantime, I have panicked to read a statement from his lordship the Punjab Minister for Tourism, Mian Muhammad Aslam flanked by his most loyal deputy, the PTDC Managing Director, Rais Abbas Zaidi, that they are developing Fort Munro in southern Punjab, “on the pattern of Murree.” Dear God up above show us some mercy. What is Fort Munro’s fault for deserving the same gory end that’s been handed out to Murree? At 6470 feet, it lies forgotten and isolated at least three hours from Multan and certain death. Now, the good Minister and his squad of developers are going to lay siege to this fort that’s survived so far. Can a superior power stop this wonderful development or shall we simply go along with what Confucius reportedly said, “When rape becomes inevitable, lie back and enjoy.”