PESHAWAR, March 13: About 160 trees in the campus of the University of Peshawar are being cut after they were auctioned last month.
A woodcutter cutting the trees near the International Hostel and the Fatima Jinnah Girls Hostel told this correspondent that about 160 auctioned trees would be cut and used for making furniture.
However, the university’s Media Officer Touseef Rehman said 80 trees were cut because trees had become dry. He said the trees were auctioned last month for Rs636,000.
He said the university had auctioned the trees after the approval of the auction committee.
The administration officer of the university, Shafiqur Rehman, said the cutting of trees was not done at a massive level.
He said the auction committee had been asked to cut the dead trees after five trees fell in the university.
About 100 sheesham, popular, eucalyptus and mulberry trees were found dead, a member of the auction committee, Sanaullah said.
Earlier, university had auctioned used stationery and citrus fruit of trees, an official said.
Meanwhile, sources said the trees were being cut to clear space for construction of hostels and faculty houses.
The university has planned construction of about 90 houses for faculty members and 28 new departments.
As the university is short of space, fields near the agriculture university and an old basket ball court had been selected as site for the construction of the houses and hostels, said an official.
The construction of the University of Engineering and Technology, the Agriculture University, the Khyber Medical College, the Institute of Radiology and Nuclear Medicine and girls’ colleges in the area of the University of Peshawar has already led to the loss of most of its natural environment.
