SOME very old and precious trees growing in the premises of the office of the director-general of post offices in Rawalpindi have been cut down and the remaining ones will also be felled turn by turn under the orders of the D. G. post offices. This is very unfortunate. The increasing density of people in cities has created the urge to improve the quality in urban environments. Trees, particularly old trees which have a wide canopy clean the air and improve the water quality. Beyond their visual appeal trees in urban areas have many amenity values, among them modification of a microclimate, screening the unsightly buildings and provision of bird habitat.
Birds exist as byproducts of vegetation.
Song birds add colour, movement and sound to the landscape, and thus contribute much to the human habitability of cities. Modern foresters are now looking to trees in cities for more than shade, hardiness and buffers against noise and pollution also as habitats of urban biodiversity, which in large cities shelter even some threatened bird species. As a concerned citizen, I appeal to the director-general, post offices, to revise his decision to have the trees cut down. No doubt the law allows it to hold the said meeting within a period of six months but that is the maximum period. If the NIT with much larger investments can finalize its accounts within three months, then why the ICP cannot do so.