PESHAWAR: The success rate of plantation on the outskirts of Peshawar under the Billion Tree Tsunami afforestation project is just 58 per cent apparently due to water shortage, the forestry department informed the provincial assembly on Monday.

The department revealed during question hour through a written reply that more than 1.4 million indigenous species of plants were grown over 1,375 hectares of land in Azakhel Turki area near Peshawar under phases II and III of the multi-billion rupees Billion Tree Tsunami project.

It added that the survival rate of saplings was 58 per cent.

The department said the plants were irrigated in Azakhel area by water bowsers, workers, and rainwater harvesting method.

It said the component of sapling irrigation by bowsers was not included in PC-I of the afforestation project in 2020 and the requirements were fulfilled by rainwater.

Water shortage to blame for low success rate of plantation, dept tells PA as lack of quorum causes adjournment

Awami National Party member Khushdil Khan advocate, who moved the question, asked Speaker Mushtaq Ahmad Ghani to refer the question to the relevant standing committee of the house to investigate the issue as well as payments to watchers.

Environment minister Syed Ishtiaq Urmer was absent prompting the chair to defer the question.

Responding to another question moved by ANP MPA Sardar Hussain Babak, law minister Fazal Shakoor Khan said the excise, taxation and narcotics control department had seized 612 vehicles under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (Road Checking, Seizure and Disposal of Motor Vehicles) Rules, 2015.

He added that over 17 seized vehicles were handed over to their owners through the relevant police stations.

“The vehicles were seized over bogus and tampered registration, stolen vehicles, use for drug smuggling and terrorism, and fake superdari documents,” he said.

The minister said four of the other seized vehicles had been handed over to the Pakistan Baitul Mal, 69 to the customs department, nine to the administration department and 53 vehicles to other departments, while 22 were kept in the warehouse, 112 were given back to their owners after verification and 199 were in the custody of the department.

Mr Babak said the department did not provide details of the those given seized vehicles through ‘superdari’.

The chair referred the question to the house’s relevant committee.

The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Regularisation of Services in Erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas Bill, 2022, was to regularise project employees.

Chief Minister Mahmood Khan also attended the session after several months’ absence.

Last time, he had showed up in June last year when the budget was presented.

The chief minister told members that the government had regularised over 4,000 project employees in tribal districts.

He said a committee had been set up to regularise ‘non-perpetual’ employees.

The assembly also passed the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Public Service Commission Bill and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Control of Narcotics Substances (Amendment) Bill, 2022.

The government introduced the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Infrastructure Development Cess Bill, 2022.

The lawmakers held a debate on an adjournment motion regarding air pollution in Peshawar, especially high concentration of particulate matter (PM 2.5), which crossed permissible limits. Pakistan Peoples Party member Nighat Yasmin Orakzai had moved the motion.

On the motion, PPP lawmaker Ahmad Kareem Kundi said the province had more forest covered areas compared to other province, which played a major role in addressing the climate change issue.

He said the provincial government should make efforts to include forest as the fifth indicator in the ‘weightage’ of the National Finance Commission Award as happened in India.

Shagufta Malik of the ANP expressed concern about vehicular and industrial emissions in the provincial capital and said there was no check on unfit vehicles that released carbon dioxide, which polluted the air.

She said the industrial units, especially chipboard manufacturing ones located adjacent to Hayatabad Township, also caused toxic emissions in the air, so the residents had been lodging complaints against factory owners.

The lawmaker said increase in hazardous substances in the air of Peshawar was creating serious health issues for the residents of Hayatabad but the environment department didn’t act against polluters.

She said officials of the environment department were not taking action against industrial units, which caused severe air pollution.

Earlier, the ANP lawmakers through a point of order condemned the police raid on musical concert in Peshawar in which Pashto singer Dr Karan Khan performed.

Terming the artist ‘ambassador of peace in the region’, they termed the police action an attack on Pakhtun culture and demanded of the government to hold inquiry into it.

The sitting was adjourned until Tuesday (today) due to a lack of quorum.

Published in Dawn, March 22nd, 2022