ISLAMABAD: In a bid to boost the Margalla Hills Plantation Campaign and promote environmental diplomacy, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) has decided to engage the diplomatic community and allocate spaces to different countries for this purpose.

CDA Chairman Mohammad Ali Randhawa accompanied by CDA staff visited Trail V, where he also met the Ethiopian envoy, Jemal Beker, who expressed Ethiopia’s support for the initiative.

According to a statement, Chairman Randhawa invited diplomats to join the plantation campaign, encouraging them to plant trees and share their experiences on social media using #selfiewithatree. This move aims to create awareness and promote environmental diplomacy, it added.

According to the statement, the CDA will allocate spaces for different countries to plant trees whereas the visitors to Margalla trails will also receive plants and seed balls to participate in the campaign.

Chairman Randhawa emphasised the need to increase the efficiency of the environment wing’s nursery and also encouraged students, youths, and trail visitors to join the campaign to become part of a collective effort to preserve Margalla Hills.

Meanwhile, Interior Secretary Muhammad Khurram Agha along with Chairman Randhawa visited Islamabad’s Industrial Triangle Kahuta and Industrial Estate I-9/I-10. The secretary said all kinds of encroachments should be eliminated from the industrial triangle area.

The CDA chief said that industrialists should be given special incentives for the establishment and promotion of information technology and the telecom industries. He directed that the allottees of such industrial plots who have not been able to establish industries on the allotted plots should set up industries as soon as possible. He said that all steps would be taken for the promotion of industry and convenience of industrialists in Islamabad.

Separately, Chairman Randhawa also visited the Diplomatic Enclave and reviewed the progress of the uplift work while directing that landscaping should be done under a “proper theme”. He further said that after completing the landscaping and beautification work, measures should be taken to maintain the beauty of the enclave.

Moreover, Chairman Randhawa also visited the Jinnah Convention Centre and reviewed the ongoing renovation work. Furthermore, he also visited Ankara Park. He said that landscaping should be improved to make the park more beautiful, adding that the walls of the Rawal Dam Interchange adjacent to the park should also be “beautified”.

Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2024