PESHAWAR, April 13: Hundreds of mature date palms planted on the median strip of the motorway from Peshawar to Burhan interchange have dried up and only few have survived.

When contacted, general manager of M-I section of the motorway, Chaudhry Mujeeb Qadir, told Dawn that date trees were planted by the contractors on his own and the NHA had nothing to do with its cost.

The National Highway Authority (NHA) and NWFP Forest Department are undertaking a tree plantation project along the Peshawar-Burhan section of the motorway.

An agreement for the project execution was signed between the Forest Department and NHA, under which trees would be planted on the median strip and both sides of the motorway, an official told Dawn. According to him, the NHA will pay Rs24 million for the afforestation from Peshawar to Burhan interchange and the Forest Department would look after plants for a period of five years.

In the first phase, said the official, various types of indigenous species were being planted on the median strip and both sides of the motorway from Peshawar to Charsadda and Mardan interchanges. He said that negotiations were underway with the NHA to extend afforestation till Burhan interchange of the M-I.

Nowshera division forest officer Ghous Rehman said that 21,000 Kanair species had been planted on the median strip of the motorway from Peshawar to Charsadda intersection while 7,000 Shisham, Phulai and other local species had been planted along both sides of the motorway. — Bureau Report