Climate change ministry seeks data to satisfy SC on 10 Billion Trees Tsunami

With Prime Minister Imran Khan’s directives to satisfy the Supreme Court in every possible way, the Ministry for Climate Change has come into action over the “10 Billion Tree Tsunami” project, reported 24NewsHD TV channel on Saturday.

According to sources, the ministry formed a 10-member committee which has asked all the provincial chief secretaries and forest departments to provide the related data.

Meanwhile, a request was also made to SUPARCO (Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission) for provision of satellite images.

The panel headed by Salman Khan – the project director – is going to prepare a report which would be presented to the apex court within a week.

In this connection, the sources say the matter can end up with the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) for a probe if the ministry failed in satisfying the Supreme Court.

Earlier this week, the Supreme Court has sought a comprehensive report on the federal government’s initiative with the exact number of trees and the areas where the plantation was carried out.

A two-member bench headed by Chief Justice Gulzar Ahmed was surprised when Climate Change Secretary Naheed Durrani claimed that around 430 million trees had been planted over the past one year in different cities.

Had such a huge number of trees been planted, the entire climate and fate of the country would have been changed, the chief justice remarked.

Meanwhile, the court was also not convinced by the secretary’s assertion that all these saplings had been procured from local nurseries, as the chief justice questioned how such a huge number could be ensured through the said mechanism.