Azadi plantation drive for peace: Youngsters in Karachi go green all the way on Independence Day

Go Green PK to launch more plantation drives in Clifton.

KARACHI:

On Pakistan’s 67th Indep-endence Day, when most Karachi’ites were enjoying the pleasant rains or hoisting flags at the top of the roofs or vehicles, a group of young men and women were planting trees for a greener Pakistan.

“Flags which are hoisted for August 14 are usually taken down, which is why we wanted to start something which would only grow and benefit people,” said Ammar Ali Khan, president of the Organizing Committee of Aiesec.

In collaboration with Go Green PK, Aiesec launched the plantation drive at China Town, Clifton on Wednesday where they planted 150 plants of Ipil and Corno Corpus. Khan said that the activity was a part of Aiesec’s project ‘Envirocycle’. Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf’s Sindh Assembly member, Khurram Sher Zaman, and Karachi Commissioner Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui also participated in the drive by planting trees.



Dressed in green shirts, the participants sang the national anthem and prayed for the country’s prosperity and for the saplings they planted.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Go Green PK President Faysal Mustafa Soomro said that the activity had been named ‘Azadi plantation drive for peace in Karachi.’ “When you try to do something good in this country, there are a lot of hurdles along the way which drains out all your patriotism,” said Soomro, while describing the problems they faced in planting the saplings at the venue which is near the oil pipeline that passes through Clifton and Defense Housing Authority. According to him, they had taken permission from the Karachi Commissioner but were stopped by some people in the night when they were cleaning the place for plantation.

Sindh Assembly member Khurram Sher Zaman appreciated the efforts of Aiesec and Go Green Pk for launching the campaign and announced that a cleanup and plantation drive would be initiated in his constituency, PS-112. “I want to make my constituency green. We will put an end to mugging and remove beggars from the signals of its [PS-112] roads and will make it a model for other members of the provincial assembly,” said Zaman.

“This [trees] is nature. We have to take care of it, otherwise we all will sink,” said Ayessha Quraishi, a visual artist who volunteered to participate in the activity after learning of the event through a social media websites. “Today, people might laugh at a handful of young people planting trees in the rain but one day, the whole country will be with them.”  The vice-president of Go Green PK, Arslan Ali, said that a nearby restaurant has adopted some of the plants and promised to look after them. “A bank has also assured us of taking care of the plants. We will keep visiting the site to examine the plants and their growth,” said Ali. Go Green PK plans to launch more plantation drives for environmental sustainability along the roads and chowrangis of Clifton within a month. “We want to see Karachi greener and make it a peaceful place to live in,” said Go Green PK Director Zaman Zeb. “Let us make it clean, green and peaceful.”

Published in The Express Tribune, August 15^th, 2013.