LAHORE: Justice Ayesha A Malik of the Lahore High Court on Friday sought a reply from the Parks and Horticultural Authority (PHA) director general (DG) till last week of February on a petition challenging local authorities’ action of cutting trees on both sides of Canal Road – from the Doctors Hospital to Thokar Niaz Baig.
Andleeb Abbas of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf had moved the petition.
Earlier, the court on December 6, 2016 issued notices to environment secretary and the Planning And Development Department but no reply was filed. The court expressed displeasure over the “indifference” of both departments.
The court ordered PHA DG to produce the record and submit a reply regarding plantation of trees and the compliance of its undertaking given before the Supreme Court in a case pertaining to widening of the road.
The court, however, turned down petitioner’s counsel request to issue a notice to the Punjab chief minister to seek his reply, saying at first the issue should be inquired from the PHA DG.
Counsel for petitioner Sheraz Zaka said that the local authorities were chopping trees on the pretext of roads’ expansion. He said that the provincial government had already removed a number of trees, which has increased pollution.
He asserted that trees play a major role to keep the air clean. “Smog had already made the citizens’ life miserable, and chopping more trees would multiply miseries of the people.”
He claimed that the government in the name of development was turning the once beautiful city of Lahore into a concrete jungle as 620 trees had been cut down for construction of the Orange Line Metro Train Project and widening of canal road from Doctors Hospital to Thokar Niaz Baig, and in the outskirts of Harbanspura. He said that that the Punjab government had not complied with the undertaking – given before the Supreme Court – to plant ten trees in replace of a felled tree.
He submitted that the Punjab government in 2015 issued its environmental policy, which mentions about plantation of trees but this policy had not been implemented. He contended that the Punjab government should formulate and implement the Punjab Forest Policy to enhance forest cover up to 25 percent of the area of the province, and take actions to stop deforestation.
He requested the court to restraint the provincial government from removing the trees.
