Together we can: One Child, One Tree drive to make Multan green

DCO says officials will give children a plant or sapling each which they will plant at home or school

MULTAN: The district government has planned to launch a One Child, One Tree campaign in the district, in which each child will get a shrub to plant. “The idea is to make Multan beautiful and green,” DCO Nadir Chattha said on Sunday.

He was chairing a meeting called to review plans for the plantation campaign. The DCO said it was important to inculcate “green ideals” early on among children. The district government has earmarked Rs7 million for the project. The focal person for plantation campaign is Community Development Executive District Officer Chauhdry Abdul Ghafoor.

Chattha said the money would be spent on buying shrubs and flowering plants. “We will give children these shrubs and flowers to plant at their homes, schools, public spaces and at other private buildings,” he said.

The One Child, One Tree campaign would help the government raise awareness regarding the importance of planting trees and plants in the younger generation, he said. Planting trees and plants was the only way negative aspects of climate change could be thwarted, he said. “It is about protecting our coming generations and the future of our country.”

The DCO said the district administration would take all schools in the district on board with the plan. “Students will comprise the largest bulk of the children we will include in this campaign.”

Chattha said it was unfortunate that there was a dearth of trees and greenery in Multan. The One Child, One Tree campaign would be a part of the greater Green Multan Project, he said. “We want every child in the district to plant a tree at his or her school or home and to take on the message of the importance of planting trees.”

He said that the project would be launched in 100 union councils in Multan. Each union council would get 10,000 plants. Chattha said a committee had been constituted at the union council level to deliver plants to children enrolled in public and private schools.

The DCO said each child, participating in the drive, would be asked to take an oath to protect and care for the plant he or she has planted. “We will teach them that this would be a lifelong project…the saplings they will plant in their fledgling years will grow into strapping strong trees as they grow older,” the DCO said. The participating children will be asked to carry the message of environmental protection forward, he said.

The DCO said during the plantation campaign, members of National and Provincial assemblies would visit their constituencies to monitor the campaign.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 22^nd,  2016.