Karachi: Green Karachi Project gets president’s nod

[Naveed Yaseen]

ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari gave the go ahead for the Green Karachi Project on Friday.

Chairing a meeting in the Presidency, Zardari said the project, which aims at turning hundreds of acres of wasteland into lush green parks, would provide for massive tree plantation along the 24 major roads of Karachi, while advising the government to undertake the project on a public-private partnership basis.

Zardari said that a study should be first carried out on the public health impact of the trees to be planted under the project, to avoid repetition of the plantation of paper mulberry four decades ago in Islamabad. He also asked to provide land for graveyards in the Green Project.

Under the project, Rs 22 billion will be spent in Karachi alone to plant around 20 million saplings to meet the international criterion of having one tree for each person for a healthy environment. Currently, the city has around 3 million trees, a number that is too low to have any sort of serious impact.

City District Government Karachi Parks and Horticulture Executive Director Liaquat Ali Khan said that nine projects have been planned under the president’s vision for a greener city. Khan said that with large-scale tree plantation, the people of Karachi will witness a massive change, as the industrial hub faces extreme pollution levels due to heavy industrialisation, boom in the number of vehicles, cutting down of trees and large-scale constructions.

DCO Karachi Javed Hanif said that the feasibility reports and other detailed drawings of the projects were complete and with the go-ahead, work could begin immediately. The 152-acre Shaheed Benazir Bhutto Park at Boat Basin Clifton will be the first project and will be completed within six months, at a cost of Rs 877 million.

The Malir River Park, covering an area of 5,000 acres, will be constructed in the middle of the city and will encompass nine towns. The Karachi Night Safari will be constructed on 2,000 acres near Thadda Dam, offering the visitors the unique experience of exploring wildlife in a tropical jungle at night. The estimated cost of the project is Rs 3,998 million.

The Karachi Animal Park will be constructed at the Karachi Zoological Garden on an area of 41 acres, at a cost of Rs 934 million, while the Manghopir Resort will be developed near the Hub Reservoir in Manghopir, on an area of 1,800 acres. The resort, which will be set up at an estimated cost of Rs 1,500 million, will have fish hunting lakes, cottages, water amusement parks, a golf course, dew jet poles for decreasing temperatures and plantations with a drip water system.

The Hill Park Karachi will be built between Shahrah-e-Faisal and Shaheed-e-Millat Road, covering an area of 62 acres, costing around Rs 200 million. The ‘Beautification of Lyari River’ project includes construction of water channels and tree plantations along the Lyari Riverbed, from Sohrab Goth to Mauripur Road. The 18.5 km long and 200-250 km wide area will be completed within two years, at a cost of Rs 988 million.

The presentation was attended by Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, Secretary General to the President Salman Farooqui, Special Adviser to the Prime Minister on Water Resources Kamal Mijidullah, Environment Chief Secretary Fazalur Rehman, Spokesperson Farhatullah Babar, Environment Acting Secretary Inayat Ellahi and CDA Chairman Tariq Mehmood Khan, along with other environment ministry officials.

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