MULTAN, Jan 11th: The Agricultural Sub committee of Multan Chamber of Commerce & Industry(MCCI) gave a SOS call to save the mango orchards,and the local ecosystem and identity of Multan. Presiding over a meeting of the sub-committee former President of MCCI Muhammad Khan Saddozai said that Government should patronise the mango growers by imparting training on international standard for picking, packaging and exporting besides ending indirect taxation and stopping the deforestation of mango trees .The committee expressed its concern on the closure of International flights by Emirate airline from Multan airport because Multani Mango exporters would badly hit by abandoning this facility. The committee stressed the need for developing new mango orchards for next generation. Major(Retd) Muhammad Tariq Khan said,"“How can I allow the felling of mango orchards that were planted by my grandfather?” he says incredulously.Cutting of mango orchards will destroy the local ecosystem and it will [deal] severe environmental damage at local as well as at national level.”. Muzaffar Khan Khakwani said that mango growers should forge unity in their ranks to save this crop and Multan Chamber should play its role to educate the Mango growers, farmers,pickers ,exporters, packagers. The committee said that Housing schemes have mushroomed in the city over the past few years, eating into its once-fabled orchards of the king of fruits. They are putting in peril the city’s and Pakistan’s mango produce.A few days ago, the Multan Development Authority (MDA) released a report claiming that the number of legal and illegal housing societies in Multan actually stands at 460. The majority of land taken over is agricultural while more orchard land has already been marked for sale.The report estimated the orchard area of Multan Tehsil measured about 44,000 acres then. The new housing schemes chewed up 7,817 acres of land — 2,043 acres (26 percent) of this acquired land is in fact orchard area that has been lost to property greed.“Much of the land that has been acquired is in the mango-growing region of South Punjab,” asserts president of the Mango Growers’ Association (MGA), Zahid Hussain Gardezi. “There were many small- and middle-sized farmers in these areas for whom agriculture wasn’t cutting it any more. High cost of inputs, low returns, and water shortages were common. These paralyzed growers were unable to withstand the glitter of money and even coercion.”Gardezi bemoans the real estate boom in Multan as a tragedy — both for the city as well as for the heritage of Multani mangoes.The meeting was also attended by Zafar Mahay, Haseeb Ahmed Khan, Kashan Ahmed ,Dr. Amin,Sana Niaz Burrana of SMEDA, Jahanzeb Dharala, Khurram Javed Butt Secretary General of MCCI
