Pera’s proposed project puts fertile land, houses, wildlife breeding farms at stake

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CHAKWAL: The proposed construction of a training academy of Punjab Enforcement and Regulatory Authority (Pera) near Kallar Kahar has set alarm bells ringing for over 80 families and wildlife, threatening flora and fauna of the area. In a letter to the deputy commissioner Chakwal on June 9, which is available with Dawn, the Pera’s director general sought initiation of land acquisition on “a suitable site in a salubrious hilly locale at Kallar Kahar”. Acting on the requisition made by the Pera director general, the district administration marked a vast chunk of 1,568 kanals, ignoring the fact that this land is not only fertile agriculture land but also contains 20 households. It also serves as a major habitat for different wildlife species and also houses two breeding farms of urials, chinkaras and partridges and a private game reserve. Punjab govt earmarks over Rs6.7bn for establishment of training academy The training academy would be built at a whopping cost of Rs6,786.27 million out of which Rs10 million has been released for the current financial year. “We are six brothers who bought land measuring 24 kanals in 2018 and built our houses after getting a loan of Rs3 million from the scheme launched by Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif. Now our houses are going to be demolished,” said Raja Mohammad Farooq, who recently completed construction of his house. Ghulam Shabbir, 62, a resident of Ratta village, said: “I have only four acres of land from where I get wheat and fodder for the whole year. My four acres have fallen in the demarcation. If the proposed training academy is built on my land, how would I get wheat for my family and fodder for my cattle?” “Throughout my life I have been struggling to protect wildlife and natural habitat but the proposed construction of Pera’s training academy has sounded a death knell for my life long struggle,” said Malik Mukhtar Haider, who is running a community-based conservancy for last many years and is also running two breeding farms. Officials of the Punjab Wildlife and Parks Department also expressed surprise, questioning the rationale for constructing a training academy on a vast expanse of land that provides a habitat for a wide range of wildlife species. “The marked area is not only a major habitat for different wildlife species including the rare Punjab Urial, it also houses two breeding farms and a flora and fauna which have been developed after a long effort spanning two decades,” Assistant Chief Wildlife Ranger Abid Hussain told Dawn. When approached, PML-N MNA Sardar Ghulam Abbas told Dawn that he had spoken to all relevant Punjab government officials, urging them to stop the proposed construction on the designated land. “Unfortunately, the withdrawal of the proposed construction looks impossible now as Section 4 has been imposed,” he told Dawn. When contacted, Deputy Commissioner Sara Hayat said the district administration proposed three sites but Pera selected this one. “We have to implement the orders given by the high-ups,” she said. Published in Dawn, July 23rd, 2026

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