RAWALPINDI, (Parliament Times) : Deputy Commissioner Rawalpindi Hasan Waqar Cheema inaugurated the Gorakhpur Nursery, which covered an area of 1000 Canals with objectives to promote plantation and to contain the consequiences of global climate change. The inauguration ceremony was held here on Thursday in Gorakhpur town, a suburb of Rawalpindi, where 1000 kanal area has been provided by the Punjab government for the purpose of nursery to promote plantation in the country. Deputy Commissioner Rawalpindi Hasan Waqar Cheema and Director General Parks and Horticulture Authority Rawalpindi took special part in the opening ceremony and students from different schools and colleges from Rawalpindi also took part and planted hundreds of saplings with their own hands.
On this occasion, Deputy Commissioner Rawalpindi Hasan Waqar Cheema said that the world, especially Pakistan, has been facing challenges arising from environmental changes and these challenges can only be dealt with by spreading forests and planting trees. Highlighting the importance and usefulness of forests in the country, he said that forests are the guarantor of human survival on the planet and the government is continuing to take positive steps to deal with the challenges caused by global environmental changes. Deputy Commissioner Rawalpindi Hasan Waqar Cheema also stated that Gorakhpur Nursery is the largest nursery in the country in terms of area, which will play a milestone role in ensuring the importance and usefulness of forests in Punjab and across the country. Director General Parks and Horticulture Authority Rawalpindi Ahmed Hasan Ranjha while speaking at the opening ceremony of Gorakhpur Nursery said that Gorakhpur Nursery will prove to be very important in the ongoing initiatives of Punjab government regarding Green Pakistan from where large scale planting of trees will be done. The plants and saplings will be supplied in the coming months from the Gorakhpur Nursery as a variety of plants and grasses will be produced here. He said that less than five percent of Pakistan’s total land area consists of forests, which is a matter of concern and the growth of forests in Pakistan can be ensured only by measures like continuous plantation. In the opening ceremony of Gorakhpur nursery,
students from various schools and colleges of Rawalpindi, especially Viqar-Nisa Graduate College and Fatima Jinnah Women University, also participated and planted saplings with their own hands. PHA Rawalpindi has also launched a special plantation drive in the city and free saplings are being distributed to the public in this regard to ensure the success of the plantation drive in the public sector.
