March 7, 2003	Friday	Muharram 3, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, March 6: While the government is spending millions on parroting messages for tree plantation and protecting the environment, the guardians of Islamabad Capital Development Authority (CDA) is involved in unwarranted cutting of trees.

Environment experts are of the view that the CDA instead of adding to the beauty of the capital is rather destroying it. “No doubt they are ruining the city that is known for its natural beauty,” says an environmentalist, residing in F-8, where the CDA had uprooted about 200 Sumbul and Gulmohar trees.

A senior CDA official conceded that no environment study was conducted before cutting the trees. “This has never been a practice in the CDA to conduct environment studies before going for uprooting the trees,” said the official requesting anonymity.

He said recently the CDA had received a letter from Wapda that they had planned a high-power transmission line from Islamabad airport to Quaid-i-Azam University. “At least, 1,000 trees come under this electric wire and we’ll have to cut them,” said the official.

Last year too, the CDA uprooted a number of trees on Shakarparian Road on a request from Wapda and no one from the CDA objected to Wapda what can be said faulty planning for installation of electricity poles without taking the future considerations into account.

“Since supply of uninterrupted electricity is essentially vital for the high tension power corridors of the capital, trees have to be the first casualty,” says an environmentalist. Neither the CDA environment division nor the heavily paid environmentalists of the government are concerned about the biodiversity effects of the trees cutting. “They must go for a proper study before taking such devastating steps,” says environmentalist Dr Abid Suleri, working with Sustainable Development Policy Institute.

A large number of birds and small animals live on those trees and moreover these trees do provide protection against the environmental problems, he said. Like many other environmentalists, Dr. Abid is of the view that the CDA should go for cutting of trees, if it becomes inevitable, after having proper planning. “These trees should be replaced rather they should plant new trees before cutting the old ones,” he said.

CDA’s director environment Dr Suleman Khan said the authority had chopped down the trees after about 50 residents of the area had appealed for the removal of these Sumbul trees. People had been complaining about the problems caused by the flowers of Sumbul tree for the last one year, therefore, the authority had to take the action, he said. These trees were creating health problems for the people of the area as well, he said.

But at the same time, he said that the CDA couldn’t cut paper mulberry trees that pose serious threat to almost 20 per cent residents of Islamabad who suffer from pollen allergy.

According to hospital sources, three people suffering from pollen allergy died last year. “These (paper mulberry) trees add to the beauty of the capital and allergy is individuals’ problems and we can’t cut trees for them,” he told Dawn.

On the other hand, the CDA was involved in cutting of trees just because residents have complained of littering by the Sumbul flowers. “Maybe cleanliness is a bigger problem for the CDA than human lives,” says Mehr Ismail, a resident of F-8 whose 9-year daughter is suffering from pollen allergy.

Another environmentalist said if Sumbul trees were posing health hazards to the people of F-8, the National Institute of Health should have been involved to determine the fact as to whether these trees were causing problems or not. On the other hand, the CDA, responding to the complaints of a few residents, went ahead unilaterally and chopped down about 200 trees, he said.

An official of the CDA told Dawn that certain environmentalists continue to write and visit CDA high-ups urging them to carry out re-plantation at the site. “But their suggestion never come under consideration,” he said.

— Muhammad Najeeb