ISLAMABAD: Officers of the civic agency on Thursday discussed options of using helicopters and drones for aerial seeding, the tree plantation campaign focuses on Margalla Hills and other vacant lands.

Chairman of the Capital Development Authority (CDA), Muhammad Ali Randhawa, met environmental expert Rizwan Mehboob on Thursday. Member Environment and Director General Environment were also present at the meeting.

The discussion focused on protecting Islamabad’s forest cover and environment, while launching an extensive tree plantation campaign this year.

“Chairman CDA stated that a plan should be devised to use helicopters and drones for aerial seeding during the tree plantation campaign,” read a press release. The press release added that the CDA chairman emphasised involving students from educational institutions and the corporate sector to maximise the campaigns’ impact.

The CDA chairman stressed the importance of formulating a strategy to control forest fires in the National Hill Park before the fire season begins. During the meeting, environmentalist Rizwan Mehboob offered his voluntary support to assist CDA in managing and preventing forest fires.

Published in Dawn, January 24th, 2025