In Search of Environment & Bird Sanctuaries

Our Visit to a Farm on Japan Road

Preamble:

The degradation of environment around Islamabad is the direct result of population explosion and the corresponding sudden increase in the requirement of building materials i.e., stones, crush and sand  for the creation of new housing schemes and erection of building structures for all purposes ranging from schools, hospitals, shopping plazas and offices besides of course the building of roads and highways.  The easiest source of the required materials could only be the Margallas and other hills in their proximity.  The very existence of these hills, which have been standing guards at the entrances to the valley for eons and are the principal reason behind especial fauna and flora that are found and flourish here. The existence of these very sentinels is at stake as these are continuously blasted using dynamite scattering dust that persists without having the chance to settle. In addition to the climate change the effect of which will be only gradually felt, this has been the principal source of disturbing the habitats and sanctuaries of many a bird species. The blasting not only leads to frightening the birds away but it also threatens to destroy the 2500 years old relics of Budhism on numerous mounds around the blasting sites. The construction frenzy is moreover attracting labour manpower from rural areas to the fringes of twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. We see how coming from altogether alien  background, living styles and culture they are contributing to this onslaught on the environment. 

The environmental forces that include habitat fragmentation and global change may lead to extinction of flora and fauna. It’s frightening but true that the current crisis is almost entirely caused by us — humans. In fact, over 90 percent of currently threatened species are at risk from human activities, primarily those from habitat loss and global warming. Because the rate of change in our biosphere is increasing, and because every species’ extinction potentially leads to the extinction of others bound to that species in a complex ecological web, numbers of extinctions are likely to snowball in the coming decades as ecosystems unravel.

Species diversity ensures ecosystem resilience, giving ecological communities the scope they need to withstand stress. Thus while conservationists often not unjustifiably focus their efforts on species-rich ecosystems like rainforests, the saving of biodiversity must also include creation of conducive environment at a local level such as building oases like the scattered farming communities of the type we are trying to build at the Wakefield Gardens, where there are 126 one acre farms, now in the process of creation and building. These optimistically would help, conserve local birds population and is the only way to ensure genetic diversity critical for a species long-term survival. As it is, the natural process of evolution dictates the conservation and reclamation, which must follow and accompany the destruction, decimation and ruination. In this regard we can not ignore the contribution of individual entrepreneurs who not only for their own survival but also the societies they live-in, are building oases in the midst of continuously growing jungle of concrete around them. In the last two decades we have witnessed both these phenomenons escalating and competing with each other in search of a much needed balance between the destruction and redemption of environment. 

This blog presents an eye witness account and the observations of a group of individual entrepreneurs and enthusiasts who have chosen to build such oases without which there would hardly be any hope for the maintainability of our precious environment. An interaction between such entrepreneurs was not only necessary but desirable. In this case it took place between four individual families of (Dr Anwar ul Hasan Gilani, Mr Ayyaz Kiani, Mr Hussain ulah and Iqbal Ahmed the author of this blog) belonging to the Wakefield Gardens near Taxila and Dr Pervez Ahsan, who had built a much larger farm of 500 acres on the Japan Road, Rawalpindi.

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Earlier:

Not long ago when I was the Director Institute for Nuclear Power in the vicinity of PINSTECH, I used to return home often late after work via the Japan road, which provided an alternate route connecting our institute with the Islamabad Express Highway. I could never fathom why it was so called except perhaps that it was built from the funds provided by the government of Japan but I often also wondered why on earth the government of Japan would build that road without any apparent interest in the development of the area! This road none the less had been identified as an exit road in an improbable emergency situation requiring an evacuation. Starting from village Chirah on Lehtrar Road and passing by our back yard it used to be traffic free and provided an escape from the busy and often congested Lehtrar road, which was although much shorter yet fatigued one out to the point of exhaustion after a full day at the office.  This to my discovery of those days was a perfectly metalled but narrow road zig zagging through the plateau terrain passing in the process by many a villages hidden behind the trees and bushes. One such village as I was told by my driver was that of Lance Naik Muhammad Mahfuz (Shaheed) a soldier of Pak Army who was awarded the Nishan-i-Haider, the highest military award our nation could confer on a valiant and brave soldier, killed during the Bangladesh War of 1971. The road was somehow reminiscent of my earlier (1969) nuclear training while attending the advanced reactor technology course at the Windscale and Calder Hall UKAEA establishments on the north western coast bordering Scotland. We (me and my course mates at the University of Aston in Birmingham) then stayed for the course some 10-15 Km away at the UKAEA hostel called 'Green Garth' where from a bus used to take us to and bring us back from the nuclear reactors and the associated reprocessing facilities by very similar lonely winding road passing through green fields and pastures with almost no body in sight for miles and miles at a stretch. While travelling on the so called Japan Road the scattered villages with ploughed and cultivated fields around them could be occasionally seen dotted with scampering men and women returning to their own homes after their own full days at their offices (fields). It used to be serene beyond description and provided me an opportunity as well as time for contemplanation.  As the car travelled leisurely cutting corners going up and down, I could think and ponder about the challenging issues, aspects and intricacies of the work, often coming up with a solution to my great delight by the time I reached home. That had all been forgotten and left behind when all of a sudden we were invited to visit hitherto unknown farm on that road. 

Later:

I was returning to it (Japan Road) after a gap of 12 or so number of years but this time driven by a dear friend Mr Ayyaz Kiani who lived at a farm of his own nearby mine at the Wakefield Gardens near Taxila. From GT Road we turned into Islamabad expressway at Faizabad intersection. After driving about 18 km we arrived at the intersection just after Naval Anchorage. We had prior arrangement of making a rendezvous with Dr Anwar Gilani (owner of another set of farms at Wakefield Gardens) who in his own car was waiting for us there. Following his car we took the left turn in toe into the Japan Road. I found it however altogether beyond recognition. It now had shops and godowns of building material on both sides and had as such lost the charm that it originally and inherently possessed. We drove on, undeterred never the less looking for the farm we had been invited to. We passed by a religious boarding school and a campus of the University of Lahore as well as the OPF Housing Society. The road which was meant to be congestion free for evacuation of nuclear centre personnel in the event of an emergency however improbable and remote that might be, had lost its intent and purpose. It was there but really not! The exciting prospect of seeing a real farm had somewhat subsided to the point of me becoming a little dismayed!We drove passed by immense concrete structures of establishments after establishments but a mosque of altogether different style design on the right side of the road attracted our attention all of a sudden. It was cubical in shape and had Quranic verses written all around it.  The name of the mosque boldly inscribed on a sign post was Tariq Masjid. It was situated just opposite the gate of OPF Housing Society on the other side of the road. We were later told by the farm owner (Dr Pervez Ahsan) that he had built it on his land in memory of his father. We passed by it before we turned right into the gates of the Ahsan Farms. It was made obvious to us by a set of twin farmhouses that stood on its grounds. The farmhouse on the left belonged to Dr Pervez Ahsan while the one on the opposite side was that of his brother. We were welcomed and received by Dr Ahsan and his wife and taken round the farmhouse to a nicely situated Gazibo with a view of the river Soan flowing all along and down below. Dr Ahsan was introduced to us by Dr Anwar Gilani who actually had invited us on behalf of Dr Pervez Ahsan. Both of them were initially class mates before Dr Ahsan joined FAO while Dr Gilani worked elsewhere. 

At the Farm:

As we made ourselves comfortable in the Gazibo mentioned above, Dr Ahsan narrated how he came to choose the place to pursue his farming interests. He said while travelling on the Japan Road, he liked this area beside the River Soan so much that he immediately decided to procure it at a cost which was so small that it seems insignificant compared to the astronomical escalation in its value in just over a decade. The land belonging to him is scattered but at one place on which he has his farm, it is 500 acres, enormous we thought! In site of its vastness, he said he earned just about enough to keep him going without looking for other sources if income. The farm on one side resides on the banks of River Soan. During the monsoon, it gets full to the brim so much so that its level rises some 10-12 feet to the point where we were sitting in the Gazibo. By building a wall in the flow path he converted the river at that point into a lake. He could row a boat in that lake of his and catch as many fish as he wanted to. While we were sitting there we saw a great many of Geeze in his lawn, which were led into the river and provided a great sight as they swam together. Later they by themselves came out and led to their coops where they had a hearty meal of mixed grains waiting for them in large troughs. They although were noisy but a sight to watch. Their chatter providing a background noise, which didn't disturb our discussion in the least.

  

Dr Ahsan grows wheat and corn but his real cash crops as he said were radishes (muli) and turnips (shuljum). These as they were of early maturing variety grown using seeds he procured from India. They get matured and fetched high price in the market. He said during the previous season he sold them at a whole sale price of Rs 50 per kg, which is at least five times their price during the normal season in this region. While we talked we were also served high tea, one of the items of which were boiled eggs, which he informed us were from the chickens raised at his own farm. After enjoying his and his wife's hospitality, we were taken to see his farm. We saw how the water from the river was pumped out for irrigation before we were taken to see the fauna and flora. We saw his aviary where there were pigeons of sorts, budgerigars, chickens of various types and breeds, turkeys, peacocks and rabbits. His wife had her own large area where she cultivated safron and many other different herbs. We also saw an enormous fig tree, which he said produced large sized figs as well as Avacado, which even though was large enough to give fruit, didn't do so on account of the fact that a group of such trees are required at one location even though there were no male and female trees. 

He had red blood oranges but no Lychee trees on his farm. He also told us about Sangtra at his farm but we didn't see them ourselves. He pointed at the orange trees which were scattered in the field and not planted orderly in lines as they normally are. He seemed to us not a fruit growing farmer but principally a grains and vegetable growing grower. We found in him a person with good humour. He expressed his opinions freely without any inhibition. Seeing from what he achieved in a short time he certainly could be defined as a strategist and a planner besides an achiever. Speaking about the difficulties he mentioned getting the miscreants of the area severely spanked a few times before the dawning of an era of normalcy. He said they often return to their farm late in the night after attending to engagements in Islamabad or Rawalpindi but never experienced any trouble. His daily routine is getting up early in the morning, going out for a walk around his large estate before returning back to his farmhouse for a heavy breakfast. He does work from his farmhouse but he couldn't receive the email, I sent to thank him for the simple reason that his mail inbox was full. He said he and his wife travelled abroad at least once in a year. He statedly uses such trips to bring seeds and plants for the farm. He has a Labrador but we also failed to see him. He used to keep horses but there were none at present. He maintains a couple if incubators to hatch eggs of rare birds such as rare breed of chickens and peacocks. He said his peacocks started dying after he started making a business from selling them!

After strolling through his farm we were invited in the farmhouse itself where we lounged for a while and enjoyed seeing his house from inside. It was fascinating to see how he heated the entire farmhouse making use of the fire place equipped with  cast iron shell which had an inlet for air and outlet for smoke. The air which came in from out side got heated around the iron shell before circulating through the entire house. He burned wood from his own farm for this purpose. We thought the idea was innovative and quite uncommon at least in the cities.

The spring flowers were in full bloom although at this time of the year they had died down in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. He said the average temperature at his farm was lower by at least 5 Celsius, which perhaps was the reason he had a longer lived flowering season. He had several trophies sitting on the fire place. These were indicative of the fact that his garden had won several flower show prizes in the last years.

Before leaving the beautiful farm of Dr Pervez Ahsan, we took a group photo to remind us later about the most enjoyable time we spent in company of Dr Pervez Ahsan and his wife at their farm.

On our way back, I kept thinking about the life on a large farm such as the one Dr Ahsan owned. He had a perfect Eco System where the bird species often in open aviaries coexisted with their environment. It was a farm where from he obtained virtually every thing from grains, vegetables, fruits, poultry meat, milk and eggs for his home consumption without much hassle. He had an ideal carefree life, which he was enjoying to the core. We could have exactly the same life on our smaller one acre farms too if we cared enough. I wish we had more of our 'small farm' owners of the Wakefield Gardens with us to realise that. Dr Ahsan had a moderate sized work force to help him cultivating his lands and growing his crops. There was a little colony of workers on his lands where they lived. Dr Ahsan had told us during our visit that only the day before he got his cook and the daughter of one of his gardeners wedded. This was the life where he cared about his workers to that extent. This was how a very fulfilling life evolved. He cared for his workers who in turn worked hard to achieve his cherished objective of leading and maintaining a successful farm life. 

Then I thought about how he was helping the environment and the answers, many of them came flooding in: These as they were simple and straight forward. The trees that he grew provided ideal habitat for the birds who were attracted by the open aviary of diverse variety of birds that he maintained. The greenery, water and birds are the three essentials where other birds like to make their home. Can we not provide these prerequisites to the bird species that are being displaced by the daily dynamite blasting in Margallas? Birds can’t take action to preserve the habitats they need. They can’t work to address the threat of climate change. They can’t even create a backyard sanctuary where they can rest, eat, and breed. But we can. You can.