LAHORE, June 18: The proposed remodelling of the both sides of Canal Road from Dharampura underpass to the Canal View Bridge near Thokar Niaz Baig will cost over 3,600 trees to Lahorites.

The figures do not include the number of trees likely to be destroyed because of movement of bulldozers, scavengers and other heavy machinery during the construction process.

According to a survey recently conducted by the environment department of the city district government of Lahore, there are 2,083 trees on the western and 1,550 on the eastern side of the water channel.

Communication and Works Department officials claim some 914 trees would have to be axed for the 14-feet widening of the 14-kilometer-long strips of the Canal Road.

However, when challenged, the officials said: “The plants having up to one-foot dia have been included in the count,” and added that the Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) counted the trees.

The PHA officials also refused to comment on the fate of the felled plants having less than one-foot dia at the time of their auction.

The three departments were, however, unanimous that ‘only’ Eucalyptus, Sumbal, Shesham, Kikar, Shahtoot, mango, jaman, Pepal, Neem, Bohri, Alustonia, Monsuri, Bottlebrush and Shareen species would be felled.

The around two-furlong strip of the thoroughfare from Canal View to Thokar Niaz Baig has recently been deprived of some 315 trees to build a flyover there. Tender for the construction of the flyover are yet to be called. The one-and-a-half kilometre flyover will connect the canal road with the Multan Road and the project will reportedly be completed in 17 months.

Like the construction of four underpasses in the city in which more than 6,000 trees were felled, the C&W department did not bother to obtain any No-Objection Certificate (NOC) from the environment protection department for the two projects as well.

Gardener Ghulam Qadir who was working in the lawn of a Zaman Park house recalled that when thousands of trees were cut to construct The Mall underpass, the crows, kites, sparrows and other birds took shelter in the Governor’s House. “A cousin who works at the Governor’s House told me that the birds had made it impossible to hold functions in the open in the evening. Nets were used to catch the birds which were later shifted to far-off places.”

Under the Pakistan Environment Protection Act 1997, the C&W department was bound to carry out either Initial Environment Assessment (IEA) or Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) before felling trees in such a large number.

The EIA is a study related to environmental management of a project. Its purpose is to evaluate the environmental and related social implications of carrying out a development project of any size before irreversible decisions are made. Primarily, it suggests an alternative way to carry out the project in case it poses threat to environment.

Tall claims of the environment ministry that it will not allow any government department or private organisation to launch a project without obtaining NoC from the environment department seems to be hollow if seen in the backdrop of ongoing practice.

Officials of the city EPD told this reporter that the Environment Protection Tribunal had recently directed the C&W not to initiate any project without carrying out its EIA.

They said the PHA, which was authorised to auction the felled trees, did not bother much to plant twice the number of axed trees as declared mandatory under the environment laws.

They said the PHA usually planted ornamental plant species to replace the felled trees to give the affected area a fancy look. “The PHA approach seems to be more aesthetic than being environment-friendly,” they added.

An environment officer claimed people had been misguided about Eucalyptus that it was responsible for drop in the underground water level. “In fact, Eucalyptus has helped save the land along the canal from salinity. It is also wrong that a Eucalyptus tree consumes 40 liters of water every day.”

There had been a complete lack of coordination between the C&W department, EPD and PHA in this regard. Like the C&W department, the PHA also did not bother to take the EPD and city district government’s environment department into confidence while planting bushes and saplings, he added.

He suggested that the EPD would have to take strict measures for the implementation of relevant laws to help check environment degradation.