PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Mahmood Khan has directed the relevant authorities to take necessary steps for including plantation as compulsory component in the PC-Is of all new projects of the provincial government.
He said that plantation at a reasonable scale should be ensured in all development schemes.
The chief minister issued the directive while chairing a meeting regarding the monsoon plantation campaign here on Friday, according to an official statement. It reviewed the initial two-week progress on the plantation campaign.
Acting chief secretary Zafar Ali Shah, CM’s principal secretary Amjad Ali Khan, administrative secretaries of concerned departments, divisional commissioners and other relevant high-ups attended the meeting.
CM chairs meeting on monsoon campaign
The participants were informed that the total target of the monsoon plantation drive was set at 58 million, and during its first two weeks starting from August 1, a total of 774 various activities of plantation were carried out across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Officials said that 1.1 million saplings were planted by engaging elected representatives and general public, while overall some eight million saplings had been planted during the first two weeks of the campaign across the province.
“Similarly, enclosures for 112 million plants have also been planned and in the two weeks of the drive enclosures for 56 million plants have been ensured,” it was stated. The officials said that 1.5 million saplings had been distributed among people for private plantation.
The chief minister directed the relevant quarters to ensure meeting cent percent target of the campaign. He called for carrying out plantation on the riverbanks, highways and near irrigation channels besides other places identified for such an activity.
Mahmood Khan stressed the need to specially focus on urban plantation and directed the authorities concerned to carry out massive plantation at the divisional, district and tehsil headquarters’ levels.
He also asked the local government department to make all the TMAs responsible for the protection of the saplings planted in their respective jurisdictions. He reiterated his government’s resolve to make the 10 Billion Tree Tsunami initiative a real success in the province.
Published in Dawn, August 21st, 2021