SC asks who is funding the Billion Tree Tsunami project
Authorities asked to submit pictures, satellite images of planted trees
Photo: 10 Billion Tree Tsunami/Twitter
The Supreme Court wants to know who is funding the Billion Tree Tsunami project, under which the PTI government plans to plant 10 billion trees across Pakistan.
The project was first launched in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa by the PTI government in 2014 and then extended to the entire country after the party won the 2018 General Elections.
Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed remarked on Tuesday that that project sounds too good to be true. If we plant 10 billion trees, it will change our future, he added.
Related: Khyber men uproot trees planted during government’s plantation drive
The top judge asked the federal government about the funds that have been spent on the project so far. “How many trees have you planted and where?”
The authorities have been instructed to submit all records of the plantation drive, including pictures and satellite images of the areas where trees have been planted.
The court suggested that magistrates should be asked to verify tree plantation.
The Sindh government has been ordered to plant trees along its highways and lakes, while Punjab has been told to stop construction work near Kallar Kahar.
The case has been adjourned for a month and the planning secretary, and the forest secretaries of all four provinces have been summoned at the next hearing.
