Old and dispensable: Trees on Peshawar Road fall victim to ‘lack of’ planning

While govt remains undecided over the project, RCB wasted no time in chopping the green away.


Mudassir Raja November 01, 2011

RAWALPINDI:


The civic authorities of the garrison city have chopped numerous trees along the Peshawar Road to make way for the project which has not yet been approved.


The management of Rawalpindi Cantonment Board RCB chopped down old trees on the left side of the Peshawar Road near Chorr Chowk, Westridge, for construction of a flyover on the busy intersection whereas the Punjab government is still mulling over the project.

Punjab government, in July this year, had announced to construct an underpass, at a cost of Rs400 million, to ease the flow of traffic at Chorr Chowk. However, following the demands to shift the infrastructure for utilities (electricity, gas and water) alongside the road, the authorities are now considering to construct another flyover, said a senior official in the district administration.

While all this planning was taking place, RCB administration prematurely cut down many trees to make way for the underpass.

The trees, some of which really very old, were not only precious but also filtering the polluted air on the busy road and provide shade to the pedestrians. Moreover, the authorities hacked down these trees without getting a no-objection certificate from the department of environment.

Following the demand of hefty funds for shifting of the utilities infrastructure (meters, pipelines, wires, etc) by the concerned departments such as WAPDA, Sui Northern Gas and RCB, the authorities in Punjab government are now thinking of constructing a flyover to convert the underpass project into a flyover, said the official requesting not to be named. “The cost of meddling with the utilities is much higher, we can construct a flyover with that money,” he said.

When contacted, RCB Executive Officer Rana Manzoor Ahmed said they removed the tree following the demand of National Logistic Cell (NLC) as the organisation was to construct the under-pass.

The head of RCB administration further said so far they had not been informed about any change in the project. “Even if it is a flyover, the trees would have to be removed,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 1st, 2011. 

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