ISLAMABAD, (MILLAT/APP): The Federal Capital slowly but
steadily is losing its greenery that can be gauged from shrinking
volume of trees and forestry despite the civic body’s mega annual
tree plantation drives under which millions of saplings are planted.
The survival rate of the saplings is also a matter of great
concern because the Capital Development Authority (CDA)
directorate’s concern showed enthusiasm only during the campaign,
but the passion subsided with the passage of time.
There is no effective mechanism of monitoring the newly-
planted trees and not enough staff to look after the saplings.As a
result, most of them die within days after their plantation.
The Federal Capital had surroundings with a natural look,
beautiful trees and beds of wild flowers but it is fast losing the
precious greenery, which is product of ill-planned development and
poor management of the Capital Development Authority (CDA).
Talking to APP, resident of sector F-8 Dr Irshad Khan said
that green belt located in F series had the largest number of dead
trees. Greenery, once a hallmark of Islamabad, now only existed in
the lawns of posh sectors of the capital; therefore, old trees
needed to be protected before they would vanish forever, he opined.
Preservation of old trees was a common practice in the
developed countries, but the CDA had not made any efforts to tackle
the challenge, another resident Shazia Khan said.
She observed that CDA had chopped thousands of trees in the
last few years but nobody knew where these trees had gone.The CDA
conduct a two-day-long tree plantation campaign every year in which
hundreds of thousands of saplings are planted, but surprisingly, the
result is quite opposite, as the tree cover in Islamabad is
decreasing at an alarming rate.
However, a CDA official said that the authority had increased
the number of new sapling from 400,000 to 500,000 during the last
Spring Tree Plantation Campaign.
Out of the total planted saplings, more than 50 percent plants
have grown due to strict monitoring, while further measures will be
taken to improve their survival rate.