Minister of State for Capital Administration and Development
Division (CADD), Dr. Tariq Fazal Chaudhry, taking notice of cutting of trees at
the Embassy Road, sought report from the Capital Development Authority (CDA)
CDA officials
submitted report on the issue and briefed the Minister about the urgent need to
expand the Embassy Road and the measures taken to mitigate the environmental
impact.
The project
director said that the increasing number of vehicles using Embassy Road in the
past few years created severe problem to commuters as long queues of vehicles
are seen on the road. In order to ease the pressure of traffic, expansion of
Embassy Road was inevitable.
CDA briefed
that the Master Plan of CDA contains clear provisions for the expansion of
Embassy Road and reasonable wide space was left vacant all along the road for
this purpose in the Master Plan. Trees were planted at the vacant place left
for the expansion of road. The Project Director of CDA refuted the claims of
some activists that the expansion of the road is being made on the land
designated as Green Area.
He also said
that the plan to expand the Embassy Road is approved by the Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA) as it contains several measures to mitigate the effects
on the environment.
He said that
for every tree cut for the expansion of road, ten new plants will be planted.
2500 new trees will be planted in place of the 245 trees which are being cut in
the process. He said that instead of planting small saplings, CDA environment
wing will plant small plants of 8-10 feet height for which budgetary provisions
are made in the PC-I.
Project
Director of CDA said that the environmental impact of new trees will
be better than the previous trees. The trees which fell were 35-40 years old
and many were near completion of their natural life. Such trees fall down in
winds and storms causing loss to property and life.
He said that
almost 25% of trees cut were Paper Mulberry and Eucalyptus trees which are now
prohibited species and the former is the source of respiratory allergies among
Isloites. Every year five lakh new trees are planted by CDA in its
tree-planting campaigns which are under-taken twice a year.
He said that
the green profile of the Seventh Avenue and Islamabad Highway after their
expansion is a testimony to the fact the projects under-taken by the CDA do not
cause harm to environment but are environment-friendly.
Providing the
details of new plantation, the Project Director said that 500 trees of
Alestonia, 500 trees of Pilkhan, 500 trees of Chir Pine, 100 trees of Sapium,
500 trees of Ficus and 400 trees of Sukh Chain will be planted. He further said
that grass will also be planted at five hundred square feet of land all along
the road.
