August 18, 2020

ISLAMABAD, Aug 18 (APP):Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Climate Change Malik Ameen Aslam Tuesday said the Clean and Green Initiative was a mega project of the government to combat the environmental hazards which entailed five various areas to systematically address these issues at grassroots level.

In an exclusive talk with PTV, he told that the first major part of the massive programme was Ten Billion Tsunami Tree Project which initiated with one billion trees from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

He said the programme was extended to seven units of the federation after formally issuing its PC-1 besides increasing the number of nurseries from 50 million to 300 million. Currently, we had planted 500 million trees across the country and the ministry had allocated its 70 percent budget for this purpose, he added.

The second part of the programme, he said is conversion of public transport to environment-friendly electric fuel, under which indigenous production of two wheeler rickshaw had been started.

He also added that quality improvement of vehicles’ fuel under shifting the system from Euro-2 to Euro-5 was also part of this initiative.

Malik Ameen Aslam said the third section of the Clean and Green Initiative was imposition of ban on use of plastic bags which was started from Islamabad as currently it was being produced five billion in our country as compared to 20 million in 1999.

The prevailing COVID-19 situation had affected our this campaign, but was again enforced across the country now, he expressed.

The fourth and the fifth parts, he said were Protected Area Initiative and Clean and Green Pakistan.

He said the government had established 35 national parks under Protected Area Initiative to preserve the beautiful bio-diversity of the country.

Similarly, the ministry had provided 35 indicators to 20 cities of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa under the Clean and Green Pakistan, he added.

Giving details, Malik Ameen Aslam further said due to the impediment of 18th Amendment, the federal government, through provincial governments, had sensitized the local governments for abiding by the environmental law regarding solid and liquid waste management and hygiene.

https://www.app.com.pk/national/clean-green-initiative-to-address-environmental-issues-at-grassroots-level-malik-ameen/