AJK Expresses Concern Over Environmental Degradation

News Desk

Muzaffarabad: Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Legislative Assembly, while expressing grave concerns over the environmental degradation in the region, has constituted a ten-member committee to address these concerns. The committee will consider and propose preventative and rehabilitative measures to the Central and the Regional governments to overcome the situation.

The committee, at the conclusion of the debate on an adjournment motion, moved by the opposition lawmaker Mian Abdul Waheed,  drawing the attention of the House to this pressing issue, was mandated to present its report within a month.

The committee comprises Minister Education Dewan Ali Khan, Minister Forest Akmal Sargala, Minister Disaster Management Authority Ch Akbar Ibrahim, Minister Planning and Development Ch Muhammad Rasheed, Special Assistant to Prime Minister for Environment Ch Rafique Nayar and Minister Industries Ch Maqbool Ahmad from treasury benches while Opposition Leader Ch Latif Akbar, PML-N leader Raja Farooq Haider Khan, mover Mian Abdul Waheed and MLA Faisal Mumtaz Rathore.

Prime Minister Sardar Tanveer Ilyas Khan, in concluding the debate, suggested the establishment of a house committee to present its comprehensive report outlining measures required to address the situation and assured the house to take robust action against deforestation and environmental disastrous activities.

The prime minister said environmental degradation and climate change were a global issue nowadays and it is a  priority for his government thus mobilising resources to reach the set objectives, adding that ‘Clean and Green Kashmir’ was the slogan of his government.

He informed the house that the government had imposed a ban on constructions alongside the river banks in the region and will strictly enforce the law against cutting of green trees besides other measures to restore the beauty of the land.

Supporting the motion, he assured the house to make a comprehensive policy on environmental issues in light of the report of the house committee and other relevant suggestions from the experts concerned.

The opposition Leader Ch. Latif Akbar contributed to the debate by suggesting that the house committee or a government committee should approach the Central, Punjab and Sindh governments for allocations of funds in their budgets for the conservation of AJK’s forests and environment as the fertility of agriculture lands in Punjab and Sindh are intrinsically linked to the remain of forest and environment of the region.

To overcome the issue of deforestation the government should provide free electricity and subsidized LPG to the rural population in AJK to encourage them from wood-cutting for construction and burning purposes.

The former prime minister Raja Farooq Haider Khan, mover of the motion Mian Abdul Waheed, Minister for Forest Akmal Sargala and other treasury and opposition members also participated in the debate and suggested various measures for conservation of forests and water resources in the region in the interest of the whole country.