The government has approved an expenditure of Rs 117.62 million for mass afforestation, Divisional Forest Officer Liaqat Gulzaar said on Thursday.
The campaign aims to create a healthy environment and address the shortage of forests in the province. Millions of trees will be planted over 2,530 acres in Kasur, Okara, Gujarat, Faisalabad, Jhang, Chechawatni, Muzaffargarh, Layyah, Muzaffargarh, Mianwali and Murree.
Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has constituted a special committee headed by provincial forests minister, MPA Rai Mansib Ali, and MNA Abdul Ghaffar Dogar to carry out the plantation work.
Gulzar said trees such as shisham, mulberry, oak and eucalyptus among others would be planted. In Multan, Gulzaar said 150,000 trees would be planted on 187 acres in the century-old Pirowal forest, which covers around 70,000 acres. He said that trees would also be planted over a total of 877 acres in the southern region of Punjab. Dogar visited the Pirowal forest on Wednesday to check the arrangements for forestation, said Liaqat.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 10th, 2014.