the provincial capital to reduce pollution level. He said Secretary EPD Dr Iqbal Chohan had recently written a letter to all district governments across the province to encourage industrialists and other donors for tree plantation as well as landscaping at important points.
He said it has already been realised that trees are natural filter to reduce pollution caused by carbon emission from the vehicles and industries. ‘The trees contribute significantly towards purification of air. Trees and other plants make their own food from Carbon dioxide and release oxygen for us to breathe. Trees also help to settle out, trap and hold particulate pollutants (dust, ash, pollen and smoke) that can damage human lungs. Trees remove gaseous pollutants by absorbing them through the pores in the leaf surface. Particulates are tapped and filtered by leafs, stems and twigs, and are finally washed to the ground by the rain fall,’ the secretary wrote in his letter. In the letter, the secretary said there was an international requirement that every country should have 25 percent forest area to balance the eco-system and to control the adverse environmental impacts of climate change while we have only 4.7 percent forest area. This is why it is the dire need of the day that forest area may be enhanced on war footing basis to achieve the international standard.
Naseem revealed that EPD has proposed tree plantation and development of rose belts on both sides of motorway from Ravi Toll Plaza to Thokar Niaz Baig, tree plantation and landscaping in industrial estates and tree plantation and landscaping around the industrial units and brick kilns. He said objectives of this upcoming tree plantation/landscaping proposal were to enhance the visual experience of travelling, to beautify the unsightly view of the Lahore entrance as well as the roadside communities from air and noise pollution, to plant rose belts in order to increase the attraction and ornamentation of roadsides and to prevent the glare from the incoming vehicles on the motorway from Ravi Toll Plaza to Thokar Niaz Baig. He said the long-term objectives of this strategy involved climatic amelioration by planting the trees playing vital role in CO2 reduction, check in air and noise pollution producing from brick kilns and industrial units, check in soil erosion and reduce water logging, moderating the effect of wind and incoming radiation along roadsides, aesthetics, shade and ornamentation along roadsides and increased community awareness and appreciation of the benefits and value of vegetation along roadsides and industrial units.