IHC orders halting Islamabad’s tree-cutting drive

Court issues notice to CDA, Ministry of Climate, Pepa; seeks detailed report by February 2

Saifullah Ansar

ISLAMABAD: The ongoing tree-cutting drive by the Capital Development Authority (CDA) has been put on hold by the Islamabad High Court (IHC).

The court on Thursday issued notices to the CDA, Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (Pepa) and the Ministry of Climate Change, seeking a clause-wise response and detailed report from all parties on the petition by February 2.

IHC’s Justice Khadim Hussain Soomro’s order came during a plea filed by a citizen Muhammad Naveed Ahmed on the said matter.

The issue of CDA’s tree-cutting drive in the federal capital has been the talk of the town in recent days and has become a point of contention between the ruling coalition, where the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) have expressed concern about the cutting of trees.

The Islamabad district administration, last week, asserted that the tree-cutting campaign was targeted at paper mulberry trees, saying they were causing health issues in the federal capital.

The CDA, in over a year, has also removed nearly 30,000 paper mulberry trees, including 8,700 allergy-causing trees in the city to mitigate the intensity of pollen allergy.

DDG Environment Dr Samina Pasha has said that non-allergenic trees being planted include Amaltas, Jacaranda, Arjun and other species.

Addressing the matter, Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry had earlier informed the National Assembly that that only the allergy-causing paper mulberry trees had been removed and that  60,000 trees would be planted by the end of March, in addition to more than 40,000 mature trees that have already been planted.

Separately, Federal Minister for Climate Change and Environmental Coordination Dr Musadik Malik has also said that the CDA will plant three trees for every one cut and that his ministry will launch additional plantation drives across Islamabad.