Hundreds of semi-mature neem trees along an eight-kilometre section of Hub River Road in Karachi are facing removal one by one as the city battles low and declining tree cover.
The National Highway Authority is cutting down the trees to carry out a road-widening project on Hub River Road.
The National Highway Authority states that the trees sit on land under its control and that local municipal authorities received notice about the rehabilitation and widening scheme before any planting occurred.
"In the first phase, even before the plantation drive, we informed the town municipality about our road rehabilitation plan as it was due because the public needed it," Asad Mehmood, assistant director-maintenance, National Highway Authority, told Dawn. He claimed that only a few trees had been cut under the current development work.
The National Highway Authority official mentioned that during a second meeting right before construction started, the Town Municipal Corporation Baldia chairman requested notification regarding where widening would begin so officials could move grown trees elsewhere.
Efforts to contact the Town Municipal Corporation Baldia public relations officer for data on relocated or lost trees failed despite multiple phone calls.
Website records from the town municipality show five tree plantation drives totaling Rs14,891,304, with each costing around Rs3 million, though no specific dates or numbers and species of saplings are listed.
Numerous saplings appeared along the route starting in 2023, though many died or washed away due to rain or high pH sewage water, especially opposite the Saeedabad Police Training Centre.
Surviving saplings grew three to five metres tall over nearly three years, but now face destruction due to construction and neglect.
Although Town Municipal Corporation Baldia agreed to relocate mature trees rather than cut them, site visits showed no relocation efforts occurred, with juvenile trees disappearing or blocking active construction zones.
Botanists state that moving trees measuring three to five metres is simple.
"Neem trees are highly fit and ecologically sustainable in Karachi's environment, and relocating any mature tree with a height of 3-4 metres or above is not an arduous task. It can easily take root if relocated to a proper site where it gets water," Tahir Ali, a Karachi-based botanist and researcher, said while talking to Dawn.
Mr Ali also noted that young trees need water every week or two for their first eight to 12 months, after which their chances of survival improve.
