National Assembly body demands govt stop deforestation

ISLAMABAD: National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Environment has urged the federal and Punjab governments to stop cutting of Murree forests for the New Murree project because it could bring floods, landslides and reduce supply of potable water to the inhabitants of Murree and Islamabad.

NA committee chairperson Farzeen Ahmed Sarfaraz said the New Murree project was being built at the ground which had been allocated for forests which provide 65 percent water to Islamabad and Rawalpindi. She said the project would hamper the supply of water to Murree, Islamabad and Rawalpindi. She said the project was only aimed to facilitate the land mafia and hotel owners. She said the pace at which the trees had been cut to facilitate housing schemes was alarming. She said with the completion of the project, 15 percent of trees would be wiped out from Murree forests which was dangerous with an ecological point of view. staff report

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