Several trees felled at official residence in Charsadda

CHARSADDA: The district administration in Charsadda has made a mockery of the Prime Minister Imran’s tree plantation campaign as several old trees were felled in the official residence of the assistant commissioner and shifted to an undisclosed location.

The prime minister had launched the 10 billion Tree Plantation Campaign on September 2. The public servants throughout the country were directed to carry out the drive and plant specified number of saplings in respective areas. But the Charsadda district administration did quite the opposite.

Several large trees were felled inside the official residence of Assistant Commissioner Zubair Khan. The trunks of the felled trees were shifted to an undisclosed location. The ruthless felling of the trees was noticed by the environment-friendly residents who reported the matter to the mediapersons.

A group of mediamen from the Charsadda Press Club visited the office of the Deputy Commissioner Mian Abdul Qadir Shah on Wednesday to know his point of view on the tree plantation campaign launched by the prime minister and the mindless felling of the large trees at the assistant commissioner’s official bungalow, the public servant lost temper. He insulted the mediamen present in his office, threw away the Press Card of one of the senior journalists and tried to manhandle the reporters by calling the police.

The highhandedness of the public servant was captured by the camera of the mediamen. The video became viral where the Deputy Commissioner Mian Abdul Qadir Shah’s unbecoming conduct was clearly visible. The deputy commissioner was seen and heard demanding the license from the journalist who had simply asked him about the tree felling inside the official bungalow of the assistant commissioner.

Meanwhile, the Charsadda Press Club convened an emergency meeting. Charsadda Press Club President Sabz Ali Tareen chaired the meeting. The participants condemned the attitude of the deputy commissioner. The Charsadda Press Club office-bearers decided to observe Black Day today (Thursday). A rally would be taken out at 5pm to register anger at the indecent attitude of the deputy commissioner. An All Parties Conference will also be arranged at the press club on the media censorship. A protest rally would be staged outside the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly on Monday.

Meanwhile, the Peshawar Press Club, too, condemned the incident and demanded action.