NHA cuts trees planted by Karachi's Baldia Town to widen Hub River Road
KARACHI: While the city is already struggling with the issue of its low and rapidly declining tree cover, hundreds of semi-mature neem trees along the eight-kilometre-long stretch of Hub River Road wait for their turn to be chopped down, one by one. The trees are being cut down by the National Highway Authority (NHA) as it is currently working on its road-widening plan at Hub River Road. The NHA,…
Karachi faces a growing tree cover crisis as the National Highway Authority (NHA) prepares to cut down hundreds of neem trees along an eight-kilometre stretch of Hub River Road. This road-widening project necessitates the removal of trees, despite the town's initial efforts to plant them. The National Highway Authority maintains that the trees were planted on NHA land, contrary to the Town Municipal Corporation's (TMC) claim that the trees were planted on town property.
The TMC had informed the NHA about their tree plantation project, but the NHA denies this, stating that they informed the TMC about the road-widening plan before plantation. The town municipality has carried out five tree plantation drives totaling Rs14,891,304 in costs, but they have not provided details on the number and species of trees planted, nor the specific timelines for their completion.
Experts confirm that relocating mature neem trees is feasible, as they are well-suited to Karachi's environment. However, the current situation highlights the loss of both mature trees and the taxpayers' investment in the tree plantation drives.
Written by urgent.news from Dawn - Pakistan's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
