BAJAUR: The forest department on Tuesday started free distribution of saplings among residents in Bajaur as monsoon tree plantation campaigns kicked off in Kohat and Mohmand districts.

The saplings were distributed among scores of residents during a ceremony held at a forest nursery in the Civil Colony Khar, the district headquarters of Bajaur, to make the monsoon plantation drive a success, according to a statement.

Meanwhile, Bajaur deputy commissioner Mohammad Anwarul Haq on Tuesday said plantation drive would also be conducted in selected public sector schools, for which the forest department had been directed to dispatch sufficient plants there.

Meanwhile, the officials of the Pakistan Army and the administration of the Kohat University of Science and Technology (Kust) launched a tree plantation campaign during a ceremony on Tuesday.

Speakers said climate change was harming the atmosphere by heating it up and affecting the flora and fauna.

They said that summers had become unbearable due to increasing traffic, industrialisation, uncontrolled population, and cutting of forests.

They said it was the national duty of every individual to play his part by planting trees and taking care of them.

Also, Mohmand District and Sessions Judge Mohammad Hamid Mughal along with additional district and sessions judges Syed Zahid Shah and Ziaul Haq inaugurated a tree plantation campaign by planting saplings on the premises of the district courts.

On the occasion, Mr Mughal said trees were the only solution to preventing the harmful effects of climate change.

Published in Dawn, August 14th, 2024