ABBOTTABAD, March 1: At least 700,000 saplings will be planted in the Abbottabad district during the ongoing tree plantation campaign. This was said by naib nazim Javed Abbasi while inaugurating the campaign in the Nawnsher town committee area.

The tree plantation campaign was initiated on Feb 23. Barrister said that Abbottabad had been divided in four sectors, adding that more than 200,000 saplings of fruit tress would also be planted in different areas of the district while 14 areas were to be transformed into a 'jungle' in the next five years.

Highlighting salient features of the tree plantation campaign that will be made an annual feature, the naib nazim said that it involved nazims and council members of all 44 union councils, adding that government and private educational institutions and government officials were also involved in this regard.

He said that fruit tress and other sapling would be provided by the district council. He said that a local holiday would be announced to ensure public participation in connection with the tree plantation campaign.

He said that the local government would allocate sufficient funds for the an aforestation campaign in its next budget. Referring to the tree plantation in the cantonment areas, he said that the station commander's cooperation would be sought in this regard while the campaign would also be launched in the Galyats through the Galyat Development Authority.