KARACHI: A plantation drive for the spring season has been launched under which 50,000 tree saplings will be planted across the city in coming two months especially targeting the under-privileged and low-income residential areas.
A ceremony to formally launch this plantation campaign in District South of the city was held here at the gardens of historical Frere Hall. The plantation ceremony was jointly organized by the office of Deputy Commissioner of District South, National Forum for Environment and Health (NFEH) and Commissioner House in Karachi.
Speaking on the occasion, Deputy Commissioner District South Karachi Mohammad Asif Jameel said that plantation campaign had been launched with an aim to make Karachi completely peaceful and green. He said that all the relevant institutions and agencies should fully participate in this campaign.
He said that more such plantation campaigns should be carried out in the city on emergency basis in order to secure lives of several living organisms facing serious threats regarding their survival owing to the serious issue of air pollution. NFEH President Mohammad Naeem Qureshi said that a large number of tree saplings had been planted in various parts of Karachi under the ongoing drive of his forum to increase tree cover in Karachi and to make its environment peaceful and clean. The plantation campaign of the forum has been carried out since the year 2014.
Qureshi said that under the campaign of his forum, training and planting saplings would be given to the concerned citizens and institutions for increasing greenery in the city. He said that present plantation campaign would be concluded by April, 2018. The NFEH president appealed to the concerned people and agencies to fully take part in the current plantation campaign in Karachi. Assistant Commissioner of Saddar area in the city Sara Javed said that plantation would be done in the entire District South of the city. She said that especially low-income and under-privileged areas of the district would be targeted under the campaign including Lyari, old city areas, and Sultanabad.
He said that conditions of public parks in the District South were being improved by the district’s administration. Also speaking on the occasion, President of Karachi Press Club Ahmed Khan Malik said Press Club would extend full cooperation to carry out such plantation drives in the city.
He said that more such plantation campaigns should be launched in Karachi for urgently improving its environment and for promoting greenery as in this regard the role of non-governmental agencies including that of the NFEH was highly praiseworthy. The ceremony among others was attended by Secretary-General of NFEH Nadeem Ashraf, John Richard, NFEH Secretary Information Mustafa Tahir, Akhtar Alvi of Rotary Club, and Salman Siddiqui of Sui Southern Gas Company.