KARACHI: In line with Prime Minister Imran Khan's "Green Pakistan Initiative", a tree-plantation event was held at Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah's mausoleum here on Friday morning. The event, organized by the Community Advisory and Welfare (CAW) Services, an NGO, in collaboration with the Quaid-e-Azam Mazar Management Board (QMMB), was graced by the Commissioner of Karachi, Iftikhar Shallwani, who also acts as patron of the initiative.

Individuals, civil society members and the environmental NGOs were also present at the ceremony. Shaukat Omari, chairman of CAW Services, said as the nation had just celebrated the 73rd Independence Day of the country "here we are celebrating the same day by planting a few beautiful trees at his mausoleum to honor the Father of the Nation and his contributions.

"We have been holding tree plantation programmes nearly every two months for the last many years," he said. Shaukat said that in response to the call of Prime Minister Imran Khan's clean and green initiative, a few friends came together in September 2018 "to play our part" in trying to beautify Karachi through plantation of trees, and decided to meet with the Resident Engineer of the QMMB, Muhammad Arif, hoping that "he would allow and support us" in the plan to beautify the mausoleum through planting flower bearing and shade providing trees. A proposal was submitted to the QMMB, and the same was approved.

"We inaugurated the program in September of 2018... This first program was sponsored by the Rotary 'Defence' Club which was successful and a precursor to further programmes to come."

The QMMB and the ground staff have been extremely enthusiastic in this venture. Last year a tree plantation event was arranged to celebrate the Pakistan Day which was sponsored by K-Electric. Fahim Siddiqui, president of HSP and a member of the QMMB, Komal Pervez, member of the QMMB, and Shahzad Qureshi, chairman of Urban Forest (Clifton), also planted trees on the occasion.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020

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