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Mass plantation of Conocarpus in Karachi: green revolution or environmental crime?

08:35 PM | 2 Jun, 2018
Mass plantation of Conocarpus in Karachi: green revolution or environmental crime?
KARACHI - Scores of people are criticising the plantation of Conocarpus in the Sindh capital city amid a Million tree Tsunami campaign of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

The plantation of an alien plants species - the Conocarpus - is considered to be one of the biggest environmental crimes by the nature conservationists.

https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/headline/gift-of-imran-khan-pti-launches-pencil-with-seeds-to-make-karachi-greener/

Conocarpus, an alien plant species for the port city, which is basically a mangrove plant, is being planted at mass level in Karachi. Almost all the parks, roadside species and major arteries have now Conocarpus, which, according to experts, will bring an environmental disaster in the city.

Former Mayor of Karachi Mustafa Kamal led City District Government Karachi (CDGK), also planted around 2.2 million Conocarpus plants in almost everywhere in the city.



An expert on tree plantation expressed his views on social media about the plantation of this specific tree.

"We now have to plant 5 million trees in any case to mitigate the mess we created by planting 2.2 million Cornocorpus," Tofiq Pasha Mooraj said in a Facebook post.

"Experts are terming it as monoculture and warned of adverse impacts on city’s general atmosphere. Nature conservationists termed such mass level plantation of same species on plants as monoculture and they believe that monoculture creates a similar environment, hindering bird population, forcing them to migrate since different birds have varying nesting habits and prefer different trees," he added.

Criticising the Conocarpus plantation, Mooraj said they had uprooted the sidewalks, boundary walls and houses while the only ones left are by the sides of the park. "We also select those trees that create the least amount of shedding to lower the maintenance cost."

https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/pakistan/sindh-sets-guinness-world-record-by-planting-over-one-million-mangroves/

Conocarpus grows fast, means it absorbs a lot of Carbon (in the form of CO2) and converts it into its stem, roots and leaves, the expert detailed.

"In essence, birds don’t nest on them. Except for the sparrow I have not seen any other bird eat of it. Nor does its flower attract bees or butterflies," said Pasha.

Conocarpus suck all the water from the soil and there would be no soil water left in a few years where sucking up water and throwing into the air is a normal process for all plants called transpiration.

Pasha also suggested how we can do away with this problem:


  • We must stop plantation of this tree



  • All the very small ones, planted in Karachi, must be removed



  • At many places, they have been kept trimmed and not allowed to grow into trees. These should be removed since we are not going to lose trees and should be replaced with other trees



  • Over a period of 3 years, almost all Cornocorpus must be removed



"By all means, plant it where it’s your only option. Remember I said the only Option. Otherwise, a time will come when people won’t know what a Gul Mohar, Amaltas etc is. When you say tree, their mind will imagine a Cornocorpus and will not know what sitting in the shade of a tree is. Remember we, our children shall be paying for our mistakes. Don't make it a matter of your ego. Do the right thing," the post further read.

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Pakistani rupee exchange rate to US dollar, Euro, Pound, Dirham, and Riyal - 9 Dec 2023

Pakistani rupee remains largely stable against the US dollar, and other currencies in the open market on Saturday.

Dollar Rate in Pakistan Today

On Saturday, the US dollar was being quoted at 283.4 for buying and 285.95 for selling.

Euro comes down to 307 for buying and 310 for selling. British Pound rate remains unchanged at 358.5 for buying, and 362 for selling.

UAE Dirham AED witnessed slight drop and new rate stands at 77.2 whereas the Saudi Riyal remained stable at 76.

Source: Forex Association of Pakistan. (last update 09:00 AM)

Currency Symbol Buying Selling
US Dollar USD 283.4 285.95
Euro EUR 307 307
UK Pound Sterling GBP 358.5 362
U.A.E Dirham AED 77.2 78
Saudi Riyal SAR 76 76.8
Australian Dollar AUD 187.2 189
Bahrain Dinar BHD 755.82 763.82
Canadian Dollar CAD 209 211
China Yuan CNY 39.82 40.22
Danish Krone DKK 41.14 41.54
Hong Kong Dollar HKD 36.37 36.72
Japanese Yen JPY 3.41 3.52
Kuwaiti Dinar KWD 922.14 931.14
Malaysian Ringgit MYR 60.82 61.42
New Zealand Dollar NZD 175.33 177.33
Norwegians Krone NOK 26.12 26.42
Omani Riyal OMR 738.71 746.71
Qatari Riyal QAR 78.07 78.77
Singapore Dollar SGD 211 213
Swedish Korona SEK 27.32 27.62
Swiss Franc CHF 324.5 327
Thai Bhat THB 8.08 8.23

Gold remains under pressure in Pakistan; Check today gold rates here

Gold prices witnessed negative trend in local markets in line with the trend in the international market.

Gold Rates in Pakistan Today - 9 December 2023

On Saturday, the price of a single tola of 24-karat gold stands at Rs217,600, and 10 grams of 24k gold costs Rs186,560.

Single tola of 22 Karat Gold price costs Rs199,465, 21 karat rate per tola costs Rs190, 400 and 18k gold rate is Rs163,200.00 for each tola.

In the global market, gold prices hovers around $2,004 per ounce, after drop of $23.35 on Saturday.

Today Gold Rate in Pakistan

City Gold Silver
Lahore PKR 217,600 PKR 2,530
Karachi PKR 217,600 PKR 2,530
Islamabad PKR 217,600 PKR 2,530
Peshawar PKR 217,600 PKR 2,530
Quetta PKR 217,600 PKR 2,530
Sialkot PKR 217,600 PKR 2,530
Attock PKR 217,600 PKR 2,530
Gujranwala PKR 217,600 PKR 2,530
Jehlum PKR 217,600 PKR 2,530
Multan PKR 217,600 PKR 2,530
Bahawalpur PKR 217,600 PKR 2,530
Gujrat PKR 217,600 PKR 2,530
Nawabshah PKR 217,600 PKR 2,530
Chakwal PKR 217,600 PKR 2,530
Hyderabad PKR 217,600 PKR 2,530
Nowshehra PKR 217,600 PKR 2,530
Sargodha PKR 217,600 PKR 2,530
Faisalabad PKR 217,600 PKR 2,530
Mirpur PKR 217,600 PKR 2,530

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