ISLAMABAD: Around 20pc of total wood production in Pakistan which makes for about 2.5 million tonnes, is burnt for tobacco roasting, which leads to deforestation and causes pollution, according to the Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD).

In a presentation, available with Dawn, CADD has claimed that tobacco industries contribute to deforestation in a number of ways, such as the clearing of forests for tobacco cultivation and the burning of 2.5 million tonnes of wood for curing or roasting tobacco.

The report claims that forest resources are also used for packing tobacco including tobacco leaves and cigarettes, which consumes about 30 million tree barks.

According to the report, tobacco industry engage in what it has termed the battle of minds, by initiating various projects for the preservation of the environment as part of their corporate social responsibility such as one tobacco company offering to establish a 641 acre botanical garden in Banigala’s reserved forest area in 2015.

Talking to Dawn, CADD Deputy Director General Health Minhajus Siraj said tobacco is burnt in a barn and that the process takes from eight to 10 days and requires the burning of 1,000 kilograms of wood.

“There are some 35,000 barns in the country and of the 12 million tonnes of wood produced in the country, 2.5 million tonnes is used in barns,” he said.

“We have a forest cover of 4.5pc according to various government documents when we should have a 15pc forest cover. We lose more and more wood and forest to the tobacco industry, which also adds to environmental problems,” he added.

If the tobacco companies care about the environment, they should pack up their businesses, and that is the only way they can really help preserve the environment and forests, he said.

The ministry is taking steps for discouraging the use of tobacco and its sale, he added.

“We are registering vendors under the Tobacco Vendor Act 1958 and ensuring that cigarettes are not sold near educational institutes. We are also trying to stop people from smoking in public places,” he said.

Published in Dawn November 21st, 2016