KARACHI: The Sindh government has decided to turn the Mai Kolachi road into a “model” road by planting a long lane of trees on both sides of the road with the help of members of civil society.

It has also decided to make Karachi a pollution-free metropolis.

After successful completion of the project, a similar campaign will be launched elsewhere in the city, said Adviser to the Sindh Chief Minister on Law, Coastal Development, Climate Change and Environment Barrister Murtaza Wahab while talking to journalists on the occasion of inauguration of the campaign on Friday.

The adviser expressed gratitude to the members of the Bohra community for their active participation in the endeavour of the Sindh government, and urged other members of civil society to take part in the campaign to make the entire city green.

He said that the Sindh government’s Green Karachi Programme was a great initiative which would have positive impact on overall atmosphere of the metropolis. He said that it was not only the government’s responsibility to plant trees, but also the duty of every individual to plant trees.

He reminded that there would be a complete ban on use of plastic bags throughout the province from October 1.

A campaign against smoke-emitting vehicles would also be launched soon, he added.

Shehri’s tree plantation drive

Tree saplings of chiku, jamun, almond nut, berries, tamarind, Moringa, Amaltas and Gul Mohar lay on the grassy ground with their little roots bound in plastic but all ready to be planted before they could spread those roots in east peripheral area of a park near the Quaid-i-Azam’s mausoleum on Friday morning.

“The trees we planted earlier are fruiting now,” Amra Javed, executive member of Shehri-Citizens for a Better Environment (CBE), told Dawn as she pointed in the direction of a young chiku tree about as tall as herself with small round fruit.

The tree plantation drive at the park organised by Shehri-CBE was actually part of a series of such plantations, which they started in 2015. “We planted the trees that are fruiting now back then after the terrible heatwave that year. We planted around 200 trees then,” said Amra. “We also arranged for fresh soil and manure for them,” she added.

“Earlier this year, we planted another 150 trees and today we got 50 more, 45 of which we planted as I took back five neem trees as there were already many of those there and we are focusing now on planting more fruit trees,” she said.

“Last year, we planted some 65 coconut palms too along with some 150 kachnar trees. Kachnar is a flowering tree but you can eat the kachnar bud as a vegetable. It costs Rs300 per kilogramme in the market. I hope the kachnar, coconut and other fruit produced in the park would generate enough revenue that can help in the upkeep of the park and the trees there,” said Amra.

“We had also planted some 20 to 25 nimbu or lime trees here which, unfortunately, could not survive because of the rocky ground,” she shared her disappointment.

Meanwhile, the executive member of Shehri-CBE said that the much bigger and mature trees providing shade at the park were planted by the late social activist, philanthropist and newspaper columnist Ardeshir Cowasjee himself. “He also left behind some funding for this park,” she said.

Engineer Mohammad Arif, resident engineer and director of the Quaid-i-Azam Mazar Management Board also joined in to plant trees with the volunteers. He said that he also maintained a plant nursery at the park.

Published in Dawn, August 25th, 2019