Green city: Tree planting at Canal begins

Trees cut between Mall and Johar Town, planted north of Dharampura.

LAHORE: The Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) has started planting saplings to replace the mature trees cut down in the green belts along the Canal for a road widening project.

PHA spokesman Javed Sheeda said on Sunday that the Supreme Court (SC), in its ruling allowing the project to go ahead, had ordered that each cut tree be replaced by four, but they had decided to plant 10 saplings for each tree. “As many as 5,680 saplings will be planted against 568 trees which will be axed for the whole project,” he said.

The trees will be axed from the Doctors Hospital underpass to the Mall underpass, while new saplings are being planted between Dharampura and Harbanspura, he said.

He said the authority was complying with the SC that each replacement plant be 6-7 feet tall. He said they would plant saplings “which are proven to be environment friendly. These trees will not only add greenery but also provide fresh oxygen,” he said.

Sheeda said that hundreds of PHA employees were “working day and night” cutting trees to finish the project quickly and minimise the disruption to traffic. He said that they had asked for three weeks to complete the task. He said that the planting would be completed in “record time”.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 26^th,  2011.