LAHORE, June 30: Thanking the Chief Justice of Pakistan for taking suo motu notice of the proposed felling of thousands of trees along the Lahore Canal for widening the road, the Lahore Bachao Tehreek (save Lahore movement) has requested the chief justice to allow the concerned citizens an opportunity to come forward and present alternative, sustainable development solutions to the traffic management and urban development issues facing the city, says a press release issued here by the LBT.

The government’s plan involves the felling of over 5,000 trees and the decimation of over 60 acres of public park land along the canal. The opponents of the plan say it is unsustainable, and will not solve the traffic management problems of Lahore. They allege that the widening of the road is part of the bigger plan to commercialise residential blocks facing the canal drive, as the city district government has done so in Gulberg and Model Town on a wide scale over the past four years.

The ‘save the trees’ movement initiated by the LBT holds that the proposed plan, if put into effect, will have an irreversibly adverse effect on the environment.