RECENTLY, during my visit to Abbottabad, I noticed a row of decades’ old chopped trees on Pakistan Army’s land. Upon inquiry, I was told that the army has recently awarded a contract to construct a dairy farm on this piece of land.

Right now, Pakistan Army Remount Veterinary and Farms Corps is operating a stable on this land situated on the main Karakoram Highway. The trees were cut down to make way for the construction of the boundary wall.

Hundreds of trees have been planted at the boundary of the stable, and serve as the demarcation of the land. In my opinion, given the nature of the project, it won’t have any severe impact on the project if the boundary wall is constructed right behind the trees, inside the boundary of the land.

Pakistan Army might forgo a two to three feet wide patch along the perimeter of the land, but in return, it will gift the citizens of the area hundreds of decades old trees.

Once a wise man said: “Of all the wonders of nature, a tree in summer is perhaps the most remarkable.”

Hamza Bin Zahid Lodhi

Islamabad

Published in Dawn, June 24th, 2015

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