Mehar BADSHAH vs GOVERNMENT OF KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA art — 2025 PLD 36 SUPREME-COURT

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Mehar BADSHAH VS GOVERNMENT OF KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA art. 9a---Right to a clean, healthy, and sustainable environment - Deforestation---adverse effects---Forest cover in Pakistan has been rapidly decreasing, suggesting complicity and/or negligence of the Forest Department, which is supposed to protect forests---Deforestation results in unprecedented land-slides and flooding, and the diminishing forest cover is not sufficient to enable the sequestering of the green house gas emissions caused by burning fossils fuels, which exacerbates the effect of climate change, the consequences of which are suffered by the people---Pakistan is amongst the countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change---However, the Forest Department appears to view forests as a resource to be exploited which was a policy of the former colonizers---Future of the people of Pakistan depends in having adequate forest cover---Existing dwindling forests must be preserved and efforts should be made to stop deforestation---a viable future is dependent on preserving and conserving the environment and adopting sustainable environmental practices---Forests are natural rainfall catchment areas, and they also ensure against flooding and avalanches---Rain water flowing in to the streams and rivers must not be polluted---Unfortunately and regrettably sewage and industrial waste are released into water bodies killing the life bearing quality of water---Effects of deforestation and pollution long outlast lives---Trees are equally important in sequestering green house gases released by burning fossils fuels---Environment has been placed as a Fundamental Right (i.e. article 9a) in the Constitution and its significance and importance must be brought to bear on everyone and effective preservation measures be taken.

Mehar BADSHAH vs GOVERNMENT OF KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA art — 2025 PLD 36 SUPREME-COURT

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