ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s government is facing growing criticism over a large-scale tree-cutting drive in Islamabad, with residents, environmental experts and lawmakers warning that the removals risk undermining the capital’s carefully planned green character, even as authorities insist the operation is legal and narrowly targeted.
Islamabad, designed in the 1960s by Greek architect Constantinos Doxiadis, was purpose-built to replace Karachi as the federal capital and conceived as a low-density city where green belts and protected natural zones were central to urban planning. The master plan divided the city into sectors separated by open spaces, with surrounding hills and forests intended to act as natural buffers against unchecked expansion.
That vision has come under renewed scrutiny in recent months as thousands of trees have been felled across the capital, including in and around environmentally sensitive areas near the Margalla Hills and Shakarparian, prompting public protests and calls for greater transparency.
Officials from the Capital Development Authority (CDA) acknowledge around 29,000 trees have been cut, but deny that any removals took place in designated green belts. They say replacement plantations exceed the number of trees felled.
