Daily Times

LAHORE: Justice Ayesha A Malik of the Lahore High Court (LHC) Friday directed Environment Secretary Saif Anjum and the Punjab Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) director general to file their replies within a month on a petition against felling of trees from both sides of road from Doctors Hospital to Thokar Niaz Baig.

The court also sought the record regarding cutting of trees across the city during construction of mega projects, including Orange Line Metro Train, signal-free corridor project and widening of Canal Road project.

Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Andleeb Abbas had moved the petition. Counsel of petitioner counsel Sheraz Zaka submitted that the Punjab government had given an undertaking before the Supreme Court that for every felled tree, the provincial government would plant ten trees but this undertaking had not been complied so far.

He said that fundamental rights of citizens were at stake, and the city was becoming one of the most polluted cities in the world due to cutting of trees.

He said that tree plays a key role to keep the air clean and produce oxygen. He said that smog had already made the citizens’ life miserable, and now cutting of more trees would multiply miseries of the people.

He claimed that the Punjab government was turning the once beautiful city of Lahore into a concrete jungle, as so far 620 trees had been felled for construction of Orange Line Metro Train (OLMT) project and widening of Canal Road.

He submitted that the Punjab government in 2015 issued its environmental policy, which mentions about plantation of trees but this policy had not been implemented so far. He said that the provincial government should formulate and implement the Punjab Forest Policy to enhance the forecast cover up to 25 percent of the area of the province to ensure biodiversity and food security in the province.

He requested the court to restraint the provincial government from cutting trees.