islamabad - The Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad has started a tree plantation campaign-2018 in Islamabad with a target of planting 5 lac saplings by September 15.
The campaign would help cope with climate change and increasing global warming, according to the MCI officials. They said indigenous plants as Kachnar, Amaltas, Sukhchain, Jucaranda, Chir Pine, Pilkan and Alestonia would be planted in the city and at the Margalla Hills. The plantation would be carried out at the green belts, parks, road sides, median strips in the city. The areas affected by fire at the Margalla Hills from time to time would be the focus of the authorities during the plantation campaign, said the MCI officials. They said that the plantation is being carried out on the special directions of Mayor Islamabad, Sheikh Ansar Aziz.
Deputy Director Environment MCI, Akhtar Rasool told The Nation that height of the plants would be between 4-6 feet as their care is easy as compared to the smaller ones. He said the staff has started lifting saplings from the CDA nursery in Chak Shahzad to plant them in different parts of the city. He said that plantation would help cope with the global warming and also add to the beauty of the city. We will take care of each and every plant and reasons have to be recorded at the expiry of a plant.
Furthermore, he said, Pakistan Tobacco Company would also plant 10 lac saplings at the Margalla Hills in the 2018 campaign.
The company has contracted an MOU with the MCI for plantation of 10 million saplings at the Margalla Hills in the next 10 years. Each year, they will plant one million saplings, the MCI official said.
He said that the PTC would take care of the plants for the first 3 months and then hand them over to the MCI. Rasool said that MCI has been paying special focus at the beauty of the city and believed that plants are a contributor in this regard.