PTI govt to use GPS to monitor trees planted under 10 Billion Tree Tsunami

Zartaj Gul Wazir urges parliamentarians to monitor plantation in their constituencies, control price hikes

ISLAMABAD: As the government presses ahead with its ambitious plan of planting over 10 billion trees across the country, a junior climate change minister on Monday suggested that global position systems (GPS) and other satellite tools may be used to effectively monitor and evaluate the 10 Billion Tree Tsunami (10BTT) plantation programme.

This was stated by the State Minister for Climate Change Zartaj Gul Wazir on Monday while talking to the media.

In this regard, she said that all provincial forest departments and the relevant authorities have already agreed, with a clear agenda on implementing the 10BTT programme.

She added that the programme will help people get in touch with their respective district forest officers (DFOs), chief commissioners and other officials responsible for managing tree plantation in their respective domains, monitor progress and give their input and improve plantation in their districts.

To a question, she said the parliamentarians have a key role to play in the success of initiatives such as 10BTT and the ban on the use of plastic bags.

“Unless parliamentarians take the lead in monitoring their constituencies, the issues of poor implementation and price hike of household items cannot be controlled,” Wazir said.

The minister added that she was personally monitoring her constituency and “keeping myself aware of the situation about prices of goods and cost of plantations and remain in close coordination with the district management to provide relief to the masses.”

Responding to another query, she said the ban on plastic bags cannot succeed without public education and awareness about the health hazards of plastic bags.

“The chief ministers of the four provinces have vowed to impose the ban on plastic bags in their provinces with the statutory regulatory order (SRO) imposed by the ministry is easily replicable in the provinces,” she noted.

She noted that the public in the federal capital is fully motivated to quit the use of plastic bags but the trans-boundary inflow of plastic bags from adjoining provinces was hampering efforts to ensure complete compliance on the ban.  

Published in The Express Tribune, February 18^th, 2020.