Punjab Govt Efforts To Overcome Environmental Degradation Lauded

Punjab government is making all out efforts to overcome environmental degradation issues by putting in place result-oriented initiatives

Punjab Govt Efforts To Overcome Environmental Degradation Lauded

:Punjab government is making all out efforts to overcome environmental degradation issues by putting in place result-oriented initiatives.

Sharing their views regarding Punjab government’ Environmental Policy and its various initiatives, the environmental expert and Forest Department officials told APP here Saturday that large-scale deforestation and urban development has caused global warming and burning of fossil fuels emitting toxic gases, have tremendously upset the ecological system, resulting in unusual natural phenomena.

The irregular rain pattern or no rain or excessive rains are the events happening across the globe. This situation worldwide has gone on deteriorating in spite of several international agreements to cut CO2 or other gas emissions.

To ensure the Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Green Pakistan vision of 10 billion Tree Tsunami programme, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar had launched a massive tree plantation in Baloki area and the landscape in Baloki has now turned green.

“Massive change is visible not only in Baloki but across the province as the government has initiated its massive tree plantation drive,” Mehmood Khalid Qamar, a noted environmentalist told APP.

He mentioned that Prime Minister Imran Khan had inaugurated Balloki Nature Reserve area plantation drive in 2019. The population bulge has exerted extra burden on forest resources both at national and provincial level, as a result the actual demand of wood is three times higher than annual increment of forests, Qamar added.

To a query he said that in order to counter environmental pollution, deforestation and climate change, the Punjab PTI government had devised and implemented Green Growth Initiative (GGI).

He appreciated the Punjab government for focusing on six sectors including protected areas, forestry, clean energy, national parks, climate resilience, water & sanitation and waste management.

He added, “It gives me great satisfaction that transformation of a green Pakistan is now on for our coming generations.” Punjab Forest Department officials said that tree plantation was the only and an easiest way to offset the climate change and environmental pollution challenges, adding if every person plants at least five plants in a year and properly look after it than a real green tsunami would be seen in the country.

They said that local communities were being engaged to supplement natural regeneration in vast area of the province where forest enclosures were being stretched over huge area.

The saplings should be planted to overcome biodiversity-knowledge parks, wildlife livelihood improvement, poverty reduction through promotion of beekeeping, medical plants and related non-timber forest products.

It is to mention here that Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar in his recent tweet has said that over 7,986 kilns across Punjab have been converted to Zig Zag technology. He asserted that air pollution caused by brick kilns in Punjab especially around Lahore was a big problem and the kilns had to be shut down for four months of winter.

Originally published at Urdu point