Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Showing their responsibility of planting more trees in the city, the Islamabad Devcom Centennial Leo Club (IDCLC) joined hands on Sunday with the Plant Tree Movement to strengthen its Grow A Plant, Own A Tree campaign launched three years back.

The young IDCLC members and the green activists planted saplings of a variety of plants in the D-12/4 Park and in and around the green belt, and the green belts around the Faisal Mosque as well.

Enthusiasts indulged in tree plantation without any support from the city managers. The organisers brought their own plants and watering cans along.

They even did the digging themselves. It is indeed a remarkable and exemplary work done by the citizens that shall be replicated by others in their own sectors of residence.

Development Communications Network (Devcom-Pakistan) founded the IDCLC three years back and is still supporting the environmental conservation and awareness-raising initiatives of the young.

Keeping its tradition alive, Devcom Pakistan supported another IDCLC tree plantation and distributed certificates of appreciation among the young tree-planters to encourage their environment friendly practices.

Speaking on the occasion, Devcom Pakistan Director Munir Ahmed said the citizens’ role is becoming vital in reclaiming green cities. Citizens’ conscious efforts would shake the conscience of the city managers who have become a part of anti-environment development.

Citizens’ collaboration would dent the unholy nexus of influential segments of society involved in degradation of environment.

Munir Ahmed urged the participants to spread the message of boycotting those corporates that are damaging the environment and not fulfilling their corporate social responsibility.

Citizens shall also boycott the restaurants and residencies damaging and polluting the Margalla Hills National Park.

He pledged that Devcom Pakistan would continue to support the IDCLC green initiatives. He urged the other leading environmental organisations to engage and support the young in their civic and environmental services.

IDCLC President Haris Munir said different schools would also be engaged in the future tree plantations and environmental clean-up drives. The youth has the enthusiasm and the energy to take up such kind of initiatives and help improve the environmental conditions around themselves.

He said Capital Development Authority and the Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad shall focus more on reducing the damage to the environment than taking meagre steps for making it green.

Haris Munir said the IDCLC also engaged some students from the local madrassah in the tree plantation in the greenbelt of D-12/4. The students of the seminary were informed about the importance of plants and threes.

Grow a Plant, Own a Tree coordinator Usman Habib was of the opinion that all the groups shall integrate their efforts to form a bigger synergy to save the green nature of the city. The rapid infrastructural growth has deteriorated the environment quite briskly.

One of the participants of the tree plantation drive, Bazgha Amjad said we need more trees if we need to breathe in clean air and the green cover is very important to cool-down the local temperature and environmental conditions.

Published in Daily Times, July 30^th 2018.