KARACHI: One great thing Karachi’s local government did was plant trees wherever it could. A greener Karachi, which was earlier a distant dream, looked possible. However, since the local government system ended, it seems as if no new trees have been added to the city. What’s worse is more and more trees have been cut to accommodate life-sized billboards. Marketing space is created at the expense of trees that were planted at least five years ago and were in good shape.
Recently, in Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Block 13-B, Karachi, a huge number of trees were cut down without any apparent necessity for the act. The current cut (from what I have noticed) is from Hasan Square to Urdu Science College. Those trees provided much-needed shade to pedestrians. But now, we will all be deprived of that comfort because of what I believe to be an illegal activity.
Sadly, Karachi’s administration — the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) — apparently has no control of this billboard mafia, which goes on tree-felling sprees at its will. They are never stopped nor punished. Recently, the KMC promised before the Sindh High Court that it would not cut trees in the city.
I would like to request the court and the KMC to take notice of this illegal activity going on in the city and punish those responsible and ask them to plant trees as compensation.
Ferya Ilyas
Published in The Express Tribune, May 7th, 2013.
