RAWALPINDI: Commissioner Aamir Khattak on Monday asked environment department to check whether the commercial buildings and fuel filling stations are spending one percent of their total cost of project on green area around their outlets or not.

Speaking at a meeting of Divisional Environment Committee, Mr Khattak said that all the commercial buildings and petrol filling stations who got no-objection certificates from the committee had to spend allocated amount on green area around their outlets to control air pollution.

He said that the air quality in the division should be controlled and there was a dire need to plant trees as much as they can. He said that it was the duty of the district administration to implement all the environmental laws in private and public projects so people could breathe in clean air.

The commissioner directed that the environment department should mitigate causes of environmental pollution as well as raise awareness of green energy preservation among the people and encourage roof gardening.

He said that the ongoing campaign to eliminate plastic should be accelerated. In addition, he said that NOC receiving people should be encouraged to start work as soon as possible to provide employment to people with the beginning of economic activity.

He said that the environment department should also ensure that the fee paying for 1pc of Horticulture in these new projects should be deposited in their account and urgent use so that the environment can be protected from pollution. — Staff Reporter