CM inaugurates ‘Plant for Pakistan’ drive today

PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Mahmood Khan will formally inaugurate the ‘Plant for Pakistan’ drive in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa today (Saturday).

The chief minister would plant a sapling in Shahkas area of Khyber district to inaugurate the drive under which five million saplings would be planted throughout the province.

According to an official handout, 150,000 saplings would be planted in Peshawar alone, whereas similar plantation drive would be carried out by the district administrations, forest department, education department and line departments in all the districts of the province.

Under the previous PTI-led provincial government, one billion afforestation project was successfully completed, due to which the forest cover of the province has increased by 6.3 percent

Additionally, the project also provided job opportunities to more than 500,000 individuals, whereas according to the reports of the World Wildlife Fund, the survival rate of the plantation, 88 percent was reported highly satisfactory.

According to the statement, the present government is committed to planting 1 billion trees during its current tenure in order to cope with the challenges of global warming and environmental pollution along with providing livelihood opportunities to citizens. Mahmood Khan said the government has extended the plantation drive to the merged districts.