‘Saplings to be planted along Metro Bus route’

Islamabad: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has decided to plant saplings in March on greenbelts on both sides of the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metro Bus, which fall within the limits of the federal capital.

The CDA’s Director General (Environment) inspected the greenbelts on Metro Bus route along with the Director National Highway Authority (NHA) and discussed the plan to plant trees in upcoming plantation drive.

The climate change ministry would also provide its financial and technical assistance in the plantation drive to ensure maximum survival rate. According to the CDA, the buses plying on the metro route emit greenhouse gases but plantation on both sides would help mitigate their impacts to a satisfactory level.

The Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (Pak-EPA) has time and again warned against rising air pollution in Islamabad especially due to increasing vehicular traffic on roads. According to Islamabad Traffic Police (ITP), around 500,000 vehicles, including vans, trucks, buses and other heavy transport vehicles are presently plying on the roads of the capital.

Moreover, hundreds of buses to and from different parts of the country use bus stations situated close to residential sectors of I-8 and G-9 in the capital. The official data showed that in Islamabad, about 90,000 heavy and light vehicles, diverted from GT Road, trespasses through Srinagar Highway, half of them are diesel driven trucks.

The minister for national health services (NHS) wrote a letter to Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam and sought help to assess Islamabad’s air quality so necessary measures could be taken to protect the health of residents of the city.

Malik Amin Aslam has said that the present government is taking immediate measures to improve air quality by using the best available technologies, implementing Clean and Green Pakistan and Electric Vehicle projects for better economic results in future.