CHITRAL
Around 3000 free plants distributed among students of Chitral University during the Green Day celebration on Sunday with great enthusiasm witnessed on this occasion.
During the celebration of Green Day a simple but impressive ceremony was held in the auditorium of the Chitral University with Vice Chancellor Prof. Dr. Zahir Shah was the chief guest. Assistant Commissioner Chitral Dr. Muhammad Atif Jalib, Heads of Forest Department, Agriculture Department, Water and Soil Conservation Department and other departments also participated in the ceremony.
Addressing the occasion experts said that since Chitral is a dry region where the mountains are often barren due to the lack of monsoon rains, this is the reason why the people of Chitral have a greater responsibility to plant trees everywhere to control the lack of forests.
Vice-Chancellor of Chitral University Professor Dr. Zahir Shah welcomed the guests and said that plants are not only essential for human survival, but also fulfill all the needs of life from human beings to animals. He urged the participants to plant as many trees as possible to avoid the negative effects of climate change and make them successful.
Divisional Forest Officer Asif Ali Shah also highlighted the importance of plants and trees. He said that natural disasters cannot be prevented until we control the lack of forests. These trees and plants not only provide us fresh Oxygen but also act as natural check dams to reduce the speed of flash floods.
Director Admin Prof. Dr. Muhammad Nadeem thanked all the participants and urged all the stakeholders, especially the students, to convey these useful messages to their homes and neighborhoods and also create awareness among the people about the importance of forests.
Later, all the guests including the Vice Chancellor also planted saplings in the lawn of the Chitral University. On this occasion, 3,000 plants were distributed among the students free of cost including 2,000 fruit plants and 1,000 wild plants.
Talking to APP correspondent in Chitral, the Vice Chancellor said that after the disastrous flood last year, it was recognized on international level that more forests can save such disasters. The whole world has seen the negative effects of climate change and due to this devastating flood, more than 50 billion $ dollars was lost in the homeland and many people died and many people were displaced.
Students of University of Chitral while talking to APP said that plants are very important for our life because plants are not only a tree but also a new life. They said that most of the forests are being cut in Chitral and people are forced to do so because they burn these firewood for cooking and heating purposes as there is no alternative fuel here.
Dr. Nadeem said that whenever a natural calamity occurs, many lives are lost and property worth billions of rupees also damaged. If people are provided electricity at subsidized rates or cheap gas as an alternative fuel, then people will not burn wood and we can avoid natural calamities by reducing the burden on forests.
Lecturer of Botany department Hafeezullah when asked to comment he said that we should plant more saplings as charity because the more saplings we plant, we can avoid the negative effects of environment and climate change.
A large number of students of Chitral University, teachers, administration officers, representatives of Forest Department, Police, Water and Sewer Conservation and other departments also participated in the tree-plantation drive organized by the management of the Chitral University.
