09 February 2005	Wednesday	29 Zilhaj 1425

PESHAWAR, Feb 8: The Pakistan Army is undertaking a massive tree plantation campaign in 13 cantonments of the NWFP, including provincial capital Peshawar.

Corps Commander Peshawar, Lt-Gen Safdar Hussain made this announcement in a meeting with a delegation of Save Peshawar Movement on Tuesday.

The delegation comprised SPM President Syed Ayaz Badshah, Vice-President Rahim Ullah Yousafzai and Secretary Ismail Khan. The SPM is an initiative by civil society members that aims at restoring the past grandeur and beauty of Peshawar.

The corps commander said that tree plantation campaign would add to the beauty of the province, particularly that of the provincial capital.

The delegation suggested that all the old tress in the cantonment area should be preserved and allotted serial numbers so that they did not become victim of any developmental project in the cantonment areas. Its members said the city was losing old trees and greenery as a result of massive cutting of trees due to which the level of environmental pollution was on the rise.

They said the government should also demarcate space for parks and open areas in the city. They proposed that the railway service between Hayatabad and city should be started immediately.

The corps commander said that steps were being taken to beautify the provincial metropolis and the Pakistan Army was already engaged in landscaping of the strip between the Sooray Pul (Bridge) and the central jail. The SPM will plant Bogan Bela and orange saplings on the strip. The corps commander also assured the delegation that he would talk to the federal minister for environment about the increasing pollution in the city.

The SPM delegation proposed that the airport should be shifted to the outskirts of the city and a new airport at Azakhel, district Nowshera, be constructed.

The corpse Commander, however, told the delegation that immediate shifting of the airport was not possible. He said that flyovers and underpasses should be constructed to overcome the traffic problem in the city.

The delegation informed the corps commander that that "Pushpapura Festival" would soon be arranged to celebrate the spring season in the city.