7,000 acres deforested annually during previous govt, Senate told

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

ISLAMABAD: Environment Minister Hameedullah Jan Afridi on Tuesday apprised the Senate that around 7,000 acres per year had been deforested during the previous regime while the government was striving to enhance the country’s forest cover.

Replying to a question in the Upper House, the environment minister said the federal government was providing Rs 13 billion annually to the provincial governments for tree plantation and other activities aimed at environmental protection.

He said after the 18th Amendment had been passed, the environment sector had been shifted to the provincial governments, adding that a five-year environment protection project costing Rs 1.5 billion had also been launched in FATA and it was being funded by the United Nations.

He said four pollution control plants were functioning in the country and a summery had been moved to the Prime Minister’s Secretariat for the approval of such a plant for Islamabad.

Afridi said each year, the Balochistan government remained unable to spend the whole funds allocated for the environment protection.

The minister said there were seven attached departments of the Ministry of Environment including the National Energy Conservation Centre, the Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency, the Zoological Survey Department, Pakistan Forest Institute, the Quaid-e-Azam Management Mazar Board, the Pakistan Environmental Planning and Architectural Consultants Limited and the National Council for Conservation of Wildlife.