A breath of fresh air at PU garden
Some students scoff at revamp effort.
LAHORE:
A 20 by 20 feet lawn behind Punjab University’s Architecture Department and parts of its front lawn has undergone a revamp. Gravel was used to fix the broken pavements, benches were perched and painted, pansy, tiger lilies, petunia and dog flowers were planted and seeds for as many as 50 pomegranate, lychee and lemon trees were sown.
The landscaping activity, a joint project of graphic design and architecture students, was undertaken under Darakht Lagao – a five-year-old initiative of four students to encourage people to plant trees.
Mateeul Haq, manager of Darakht Lagao (plant a tree), said funds were raised from peons, students, and teachers. Fundraising started on Monday, March 12.
He said, “We regularly hold activities in four government schools. This is our first engagement with art and design students in Punjab University.”
Twenty students not only planted flowers and trees but also utilised material in varsity stores to set up seats across the garden.
Erum Manzoor, a graphic design student, said she was participating in such an activity for the first time. She said that the event was an eye opener. We used our own paints and energy into cleaning the place, carefully selecting the plants and colours for the benches and the water tap.
“The project involved us cleaning the entire area and then the architecture students suggested the landscape designs,” she said.
Jameela, an art and design student, thought the activity was “school-like and immature.”
“I do appreciate the intitiative and have donated some money for the purchase of saplings but personally I feel such activities should be limited to primary and secondary school,” she said. “Unfortunately our primary schools lack gardening projects, so most such activities are carried out at the university level.
Jameela, however, added that, “At least we get to learn about varieties of trees and flowers and plantation techniques,” she said.
Naima, an architecture student, said fixing the area had taken about eight hours every day for two days. “More than mere learning, its unusual, its fun to have such an activity here,” she said.
University College of Arts & Design principal Rahat Naveed and vice chancellor Mujahid Kamran on Tuesday afternoon visited the revamped patches and appreciated the students’ attempts.
Haq said he look forward to collaborating with the students in the future.
“I plan to come here when the weather changes and encourage students to plant local and seasonal varieties of fruits and flowers.”
Published in The Express Tribune, March 15th, 2012.
A 20 by 20 feet lawn behind Punjab University’s Architecture Department and parts of its front lawn has undergone a revamp. Gravel was used to fix the broken pavements, benches were perched and painted, pansy, tiger lilies, petunia and dog flowers were planted and seeds for as many as 50 pomegranate, lychee and lemon trees were sown.
The landscaping activity, a joint project of graphic design and architecture students, was undertaken under Darakht Lagao – a five-year-old initiative of four students to encourage people to plant trees.
Mateeul Haq, manager of Darakht Lagao (plant a tree), said funds were raised from peons, students, and teachers. Fundraising started on Monday, March 12.
He said, “We regularly hold activities in four government schools. This is our first engagement with art and design students in Punjab University.”
Twenty students not only planted flowers and trees but also utilised material in varsity stores to set up seats across the garden.
Erum Manzoor, a graphic design student, said she was participating in such an activity for the first time. She said that the event was an eye opener. We used our own paints and energy into cleaning the place, carefully selecting the plants and colours for the benches and the water tap.
“The project involved us cleaning the entire area and then the architecture students suggested the landscape designs,” she said.
Jameela, an art and design student, thought the activity was “school-like and immature.”
“I do appreciate the intitiative and have donated some money for the purchase of saplings but personally I feel such activities should be limited to primary and secondary school,” she said. “Unfortunately our primary schools lack gardening projects, so most such activities are carried out at the university level.
Jameela, however, added that, “At least we get to learn about varieties of trees and flowers and plantation techniques,” she said.
Naima, an architecture student, said fixing the area had taken about eight hours every day for two days. “More than mere learning, its unusual, its fun to have such an activity here,” she said.
University College of Arts & Design principal Rahat Naveed and vice chancellor Mujahid Kamran on Tuesday afternoon visited the revamped patches and appreciated the students’ attempts.
Haq said he look forward to collaborating with the students in the future.
“I plan to come here when the weather changes and encourage students to plant local and seasonal varieties of fruits and flowers.”
Published in The Express Tribune, March 15th, 2012.