Govt, allies at loggerheads over Islamabad tree-cutting drive

• Islamabad now “greener than before”, says Chaudhry.
• PPP’s Marri calls the matter “very serious.”
• Sattar raises questions over tree-cutting drive.
  

ISLAMABAD: The ongoing tree-cutting drive in Islamabad has put ruling coalition partners at odds, with key allies questioning the government’s plan in the National Assembly on Tuesday.

Addressing the NA session, Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Shazia Marri, citing reports, said that thousands of trees had been cut down in various parts of the capital, including Shakarparian and called the matter “very serious”.

Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) leader Dr Farooq Sattar also raised questions over the move, saying that some old trees have also been cut down due to construction in the capital, which should not have happened.

The Islamabad district administration, last week, asserted that the tree-cutting campaign was targeted at paper mulberry trees, saying they were causing health issues in the federal capital.

Taking the floor, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Ali Mohammad Khan said that cutting down wild mulberry trees due to pollination is understandable, but questioned why trees 40 to 50 years old were cut.

The government’s allies and the opposition leaders demanded to refer the matter to the NA’s Standing Committee on Environment.

Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry informed the House that only the allergy-causing paper mulberry trees had been removed in Islamabad.

He said that the capital is now “greener than before” and that 60,000 additional trees would be planted by the end of March.

Responding to a calling attention notice moved by MNA Muhammad Riaz Fatyana regarding wanton tree cutting in Islamabad, Chaudhry said the issue had been widely debated on social and electronic media, but facts established that only specific categories of trees were removed.

He explained that tree removal in Islamabad generally occurred under three circumstances: development activities executed under the city’s original master plan where brown-area sectors remained unbuilt, infrastructure requirements such as new roads, underpasses and overhead structures, and removal of hazardous species, especially paper mulberry.

He noted that areas publicly perceived as green were, in fact, brown-area zones in the original master plan.

The minister emphasised that no infrastructure project undertaken during the past eighteen months had removed trees without due process.

He said every project went through mandatory public hearings, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) review, certification, and mapping through SPARCO imagery and NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetation Index), an internationally recognised method for assessing green cover.

“Over 40,000 mature trees — 8 to 10 feet tall — have already been planted, and 60,000 more will be planted by March,” he added.

He said that Sparco imagery, Google Maps data and NDVI analysis showed that Islamabad’s greenery had increased between 2023 and 2025, contradicting claims that green cover was diminishing.

He invited parliamentarians and journalists for an on-ground technical briefing to verify the data.

He underlined that removing paper mulberry did not generate revenue — rather, resources were spent to uproot it fully to prevent regrowth.

He said Islamabad was now safer, more modern and greener than before, and urged that criticism based on misinformation should not overshadow factual environmental improvements.

The matter was referred to the relevant committee for further examination.

Later, Climate Change Minister Musadiq Malik visited Shakarparian to monitor the tree-cutting drive. Speaking on the occasion, he said: “I have come to see which trees have been cut.”

He warned that action would be taken if local trees were cut systematically or due to negligence. Defending the drive, the minister said pollen allergies affect 30 to 37% of people.

He added that show-cause notices would be issued if construction projects failed to comply with Pakistan Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) guidelines.

— With additional input from APP