Islamabad: 7th Avenue going green again

[Naveed Yaseen]

Ishrat Hyatt
Seventh Avenue, which makes travelling time between some sectors of Islamabad shorter, saw the chopping down of many trees some time back, something that was condemned by environmentalists and nature lovers. Now, as drivers use the road to save time and energy, the loss of greenery has receded into the background, as such issues usually do, with just a few die hard ones, who are worried about the capital’s loss of green cover, still mourning their loss.

CDA is trying to make the Avenue look as beautiful as possible, so that critics of tree chopping to widen roads can be won over and a lot of fancy plant work has been done along the concrete sidewalls - space for planting had been left in the stonework - and in the median between the two sides of the road. Now, the Avenue is already looking better than when it was inaugurated and when the plants, shrubs and trees eventually grow fully, there is no doubt that it will look green and more pleasant to the eyes.

But maybe a hasty decision has been taken regarding which plants to be put in the median. Creepers have been planted at the base of the lampposts and tied with a string to the crossbar at the top. They look good but the horticulture department is going to have a hard time keeping the creepers in check when they grow to a height where they have to be trimmed and that will be quite soon, as they are growing fast. It’s going to be quite an exercise and would need a tall stepladder installed on a vehicle or the contraption that is used to change bulbs on streetlights. Maybe the horticulture department has the resources to deal with what will be a costly and time-consuming exercise but a constant watch will have to be kept on the creepers, so they don’t become a nuisance as far as the lights go.

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