Zubair Qureshi
On the eve of the World Forestry Day, students of various schools, colleges and universities of the garrison city participated in a plantation drive led by Deputy Commissioner of Rawalpindi HasanWaqarCheema. On the occasion, a new nursery Gorakhpur Nursery was also inaugurated. The facility is operating under the Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) and is set up at an area of area of 1000 kanals.
The inauguration ceremony was held in Gorakhpur town, a suburb of Rawalpindi, where 1,000 kanalarea has been earmarked by the Punjab government for the purpose of a nursery to promote plantation in the country.
Director General (DG), PHA Ahmed Hassan Ranjha also took part in the opening ceremony. On the occasion, hundreds of saplings were planted by the students and the participants.
HasanWaqarCheema while welcoming a new, state-of-the-art nursery in Rawalpindi said plants and trees were the need of the hour as Pakistan was facing challenges arising from environmental degradation and global warming. These challenges can only be dealt with by spreading forests and planting trees.
Highlighting the importance and usefulness of forests in the country, he said the forests were the guarantor of human survival on the planet and the provincial government is continuing to take positive steps to deal with the challenges caused by global environmental changes.
The plantation drive and the new nursery are also in line with Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif’s vision of Green Pakistan to counter the challenges of climate change.
