The Lahore High Court (LHC) on Thursday sought details of the government policy on tree plantation across the province. Amid hearing of a petition on non-plantation of trees in Punjab, director general Lahore Development Authority, director general Punjab Highway Authority (PHA) and officials of other relevant institutions turned up before the court. The DG PHA apprised the court that Rs 27 billion were required for plantation of trees. The summary for expenditure on the project has been forwarded to the federal government and their reply is awaited, he told the court. The court stated it was an issue of importance; hence immediate steps were needed for its resolution. The LHC directed PHA, LDA and other institutions to file their replies on the petition by February 11. The LHC also observed that no trees were being planted in any of the cities of Punjab. The petitioner noted that chopping of trees coupled with climatic changes was triggering environmental changes quite rapidly. He requested the court to order the government to start plantation of trees in all parts of the province. Stressing on the importance of trees, recently the University of Science and Technology (UST) Bannu made it a mandatory condition for students to plant a tree if they want their degrees. As per the instructions of the varsity, degrees will not be given to students unless they plant, at least, one tree. Published in Daily Times, February 1st 2019.