KAHUTA: Prime Minister Imran Khan has said enhancing green areas and forest cover are vital to protect future generations from pollution, global warming and to keep the environment clean and tidy.

He was speaking at a ceremony after inaugurating Monsoon Tree Plantation Campaign 2020 in Kahuta on Friday evening.

The Prime Minister said the government has established nine National Parks in the country which will not only protect forest cover, but also nurture wildlife and avoid global warming.

He said these National Parks will be increased in future.

The Prime Minister said that the government had launched Ten Billion Tree Tsunami campaign under which we have grown 300 million trees in just two years after coming to power. 

He said we will be able to plant one billion trees by June next year and be very close to our target at the end of our five-year term.

He said that three hundred "Nigehbans" have been appointed to protect trees in these parks and this number will be enhanced to 30 thousand in future.

He said the prime responsibility of these "Nigehbans" will be to protect trees from fire, animals and timber mafia.

The Prime Minister said it has also been decided to reserve two hours in a week to create awareness among school children about importance of trees.

Imran Khan said it is unfortunate that previous governments did not focus on preventing deforestation, which resulted into an increased level of pollution in Lahore and other cities of the country, which adversely affected health of the people.

The Prime Minister said that he has directed all chief secretaries of the provinces to prepare master plan of all the cities of Pakistan so that we can prevent unplanned expansion of urban areas to protect agricultural land.

He said green areas will be demarcated around cities and urban population will not be allowed to expand beyond certain limits.