PHA on a tree-cutting spree
RAWALPINDI: The Parks and Horticulture Agency (PHA) established to cultivate plants and saplings is on a tree-chopping spree in the garrison city.
Over the last one week, the agency has cut down over 20 trees in different parks and dumped them in Nawaz Sharif Park for auction.
Ironically, the PHA justified its decision by saying that it wanted to ‘plant flowers’ in place of the eucalyptus trees. If things go on as planned, 100 more trees will be felled.
“We cut down the trees from Chah Sultan park for the plantation of new trees under a programme to improve the city parks,” said Mushtaq Ahmed, the managing director of the PHA, while talking to Dawn.
Besides the Chah Sultan park, trees have also been cut down in the Satellite Town Block B park.
The PHA chief said the eucalyptus trees were not environment friendly as under its shade it was difficult to plant flowers, grass and other plants.
He said the PHA wanted to beautify the parks and provide better recreational facilities to the citizens and thus chopped some of these trees.
“The trees dumped in Nawaz Sharif Park for auction are useless. We can even not make benches or any other stuff from these trees to be used for the beautification of the parks,” he said.
On other hand, the residents of the areas are not happy with the civic agency’s move. “There were a few trees in our area but the civic agency cut them down,” said Mohammad Ijaz, a resident of Amarpura near Chah Sultan.
He said during the past many years, the government had chopped a large number of trees in the name of development and the people were facing problem in getting fresh air in the polluted environment. He said pollution was increasing in cities and the cutting of the trees added more to the problems of the people.
Mohammad Anwar, a resident of Chah Sultan, said the people wanted face-lifting of their area but not at the cost of trees.
“We lived in small houses and there is no space to plant trees. The trees planted in parks and roadsides provided us some relief from the bad air,” he added.
“If the department chopped the few trees, the area would be a barren piece of land,” said Nisar Malik, a resident of Chah Sultan. Instead of planting more trees, the civic agencies are cutting green trees, which is strange, he said.
He also said wood had become expensive after low gas pressure in the winter. “If the eucalyptus tree is not used for furniture, it can be used for billboards and in house construction,” he said.
When contacted, Shaukat Hayat, the district officer environment, said the civic agency should not cut trees without intimation to his department. “If the agency chops down one tree it would have to plant three saplings in its place,” he said.
He said despite growth the number of trees in the city was decreasing as the civic agency was cutting the trees.
Source: Dawn
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