NAROWAL: The municipal committee of Narowal has recently taken action to cut down dozens of conocarpus trees lining Circular Road. Originally planted a decade ago to enhance the city’s aesthetic appeal and ‘mitigate environmental pollution,’ the decision to remove these trees was made after knowing about the well-known water-intensive nature of the species.

Over the past 10 years, the Narowal Municipal Committee staff watered and cared for these trees. However, in the last four days, the committee’s staff began the process of cutting down these trees.

Mohammad Sardar, the chief officer of the municipal committee, clarified that the tree removal was executed under the specific orders of the deputy commissioner, emphasizing their role in following official directives.

Deputy Commissioner Syed Hasan Raza defended the decision, stating that the conocarpus trees on Circular Road were absorbing excessive groundwater. He pointed to a government ban on planting such trees in Karachi. Mr Raza justified the tree cutting by expressing the intention to replace them with local plants, aiming to enhance the city’s overall beauty.

Expressing concern, citizens Munir Ahmed and Mohammad Ramzan raised questions about the substantial government expenditure, exceeding Rs50 million, solely on the plantation of these now-deemed ‘unwanted’ trees at the Jasar Bypass Round Circle.

Published in Dawn, November 16th, 2023