A man has approached the Lahore High Court against the wastage of papers because of their use from single side in courts and departments of the province that contributes to excessive cutting of trees.
Petitioner Faizullah Khan Niazi filed a writ petition through Advocate Abuzar Salman Khan Niazi, calling for “amendments to be made in the relevant high court rules and procedures to ensure that judicial pleadings, orders and all other administrative and judicial documents submitted to and issued by the high court and all other courts and tribunals subordinate thereto employ double sided printing to reduce paper wastage”.
The petitioner sought directions to the provincial government, registrar LHC, director general district judiciary, federal cabinet secretary and secretary climate change for introducing policies to reduce paper wastage, including adoption of electronic communication and double side printing.
He requested the court to constitute a commission to give recommendations for reducing the use of paper in courts and government offices in Punjab.
He submitted that wastage of paper leads to more trees being cut down and increases the rate of deforestation in the country.
The petitioner said the people’s right to life and a clean and healthy environment guaranteed by Article 9 of the Constitution had been violated due to indifference of the respondents.
He implored that according to a research report published by the National Environment Information System (NEIMS), a project of United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the rate of deforestation in Pakistan, estimated at 0.2 to 0.5% annually, is the highest in the world. The total natural forest cover has reduced from 3.59 million hectares to 3.32 million hectares at an average rate of 27,000 hectares annually. This constitutes less than 4% forest cover, whereas the recommended level for a country is 25%.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 4th, 2020.
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