ISLAMABAD, April 6: Standing alone and filled with lush white and light purple flowers are the Kachnar trees found all over Islamabad, adding to the beauty of the area in spring.
It is also one of the very few trees that grow naturally in the region providing seasonal delicacy and extra pocket money to those whopluck its buds and sell them in the markets.
“The buds are tasty when cooked either with potatoes or minced meat,” said a housewife Asmat Zehra, a resident of Islamabad. “My children who also play around Kachnar trees often collect sizeable quantity of buds,” she added.
Taking advantage of school holidays hundreds of local children, residents of villages around Islamabad and low income localities in the city can be seen climbing Kachnar trees daily to collect buds.
“We eat this flower daily and I collect one plastic bag from these trees on the green belt,” said a young resident of katchiabadi behind Zero Point.
However, it is more than that for the villagers around the city who are less fond of eating Kachnar but more interested in selling the sprouts to local vegetable sellers.
These boys collect the buds mainly in the remote areas, as the trees are easily identified by its light purple or white flowers blooming in vast numbers dominating the surrounding.
Whereas many daily wagers can be seen colleting Kachnar buds in F-6 sector mainly around the Super Market, and at the green belt in H-Sectors,to sell their harvest between Rs30 and Rs40 per kg to the vegetable sellers.
On their part the retailers sell the same up to Rs100 per kg, and even say the commodity is in short supply.
“This is very costly at the wholesale fruit and vegetable market due to high demand,” said a retailer at G-10 Markaz and added that buds are brought to Islamabad city from far-flung villages because the local produce do not have good quality mainly due to pollution in the city.
Similarly, another retailer in F-sector said that the short supply was due to cutting of trees in the Islamabad area.
“These buds are brought from Haripur and Tarbela area,” he said.
However, there is no uniform Kachnar rate in the twin cities, the average rate of kachnar in Rawalpindi is Rs60 per kg, but it is comparatively more costly in upper-middle class localities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad due to high demand.
Kachnar buds cost between Rs80 and Rs100 per kg in Commercial Market, Aabpara, G-10 and F-6, while it was less in local markets in Rawalpindi and Islamabad.
Kachnar is a local name in the subcontinent for a variety of medium size trees of Bauhinia plant family.
Though ignored in the past, the Capital Development Authority has made it a policy to plant indigenous and fruit trees at the annual plantation drive.
“This year we planted more than 100,000 fruit trees in spring and the same number will be planted in the second phase of plantation drive,” said Ramzan Sajid CDA spokesman.
He said that the policy had been adopted in view of serious troubles being faced by the residents of the capital and even the authority due to the allergy causing varieties that were alien to the land.