Pakistan breaks India's record as over 50,000 saplings planted within a minute in Gujranwala

LAHORE:  Pakistan on Thursday beat India's record of planting most trees within a minute as over 50,000 saplings were planted during a plantation drive  in Gujranwala.

The drive was led by Special Assistant to Prime Minister (SAPM) on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam, who said  on the occasion that 52,040 plants had been planted in the presence of representatives of the Guinness World Records, which bettered an Indian record of planting 37,000 trees.

Previously, Bhutan, in 2015, had set the world record of planting 49,672 saplings.

Some 12,500 students planted over 50,000 plants on an area between Rawalpindi bypass and Chand Ka Qila bypass after sirens were played.

As many as 47 drone cameras recorded the activity.

Malik Amin Aslam said that it was even better as the boys and girls had achieved the world record of planting 52,040 plants in a minure, adding that the Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) Gujranwala would take care of the plants till they grow into trees.

“The people of Gujranwala have given a gift to the country on the 74th Independence day with a message to the country that 14th August should be commemorated as Green Pakistan Day and everyone should plant at least one plant on the day,” he said.

Admiring the spirit, he said students stood in a 14-kilometre long queue to plant trees as part of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s Clean and Green Pakistan campaign to plant 10 billion trees in the country.

Elaborating Prime Minister Imran Khan’s vision to turn Pakistan green, the SAPM said planting trees is in line with the Sunnah of Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH), adding that Pakistan is also one of the countries which had been hit hard by climate change, and tree plantation was a need of the hour.

"Pakistan is leading tree plantation drive in the world while people of Gujranwala are leading the country-wide drive," Amin Aslam said, adding that Prime Minister Imran Khan had recently inaugurated the world’s largest Miyawaki urban forest in Lahore, which would help fight climate degradation.

The SAPM said these plants would not only fight global warming but also defeat ignorance of the political rivals in Gujranwala, who had claimed that the growth of trees, under Clean and Green Pakistan drive, would invite wild animals into the city.

Referring to the PML-N’s 10-year rule in Punjab, he said it was the same political party that let 70% of the green cover of Lahore erode in only 10 years, adding that the historic city was once known to the world as the ‘City of Gardens''.

About terming the green cover a security risk by the political opponents in Gujranwala, he asked them to shun ignorance and plant a tree of their share.

The SAPM on climate change also planted a sapling.

He was accompanied by Federal Parliamentary Secretary on Climate Change Rukhsana Naveed, Commissioner Gujranwala Division Zulfiqar Ahmed Ghumman, Deputy Commissioner Muhammad Sohail Khwaja, Chairman PHA Gujranwala S A Hameed, and Coordinator Punjab Clean and Green Program Amir Majeed.