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Volunteers clean up Margalla Hills hiking trails in Islamabad to encourage responsible citizenship
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Dissatisfied with the irresponsible behavior of the visitors as well as authorities, a group of volunteers pitched in to clean up the beautiful trails and the view points on the weekend.
Volunteers from the Clean Islamabad Hiking Trails, Painting the Future and Islamabad Wildlife Management Board took part in the trash clean up campaign in the Margalla Hills.
The hallmark of Islamabad’s beauty Margalla Hills National Park (MHNP) and the six main hiking trills in the hills are often seen littered with plastic bags, food and drink containers, bottles and other non-bio degradable material. The litter is not only an eye sore but also poses an immediate danger to natural environment of the hills.
Due to the negligence of the authorities, mismanagement, and lack of awareness among the public, the volunteers have taken up the task of cleaning such spots.
To bring back the beauty of the hills, volunteers spend their weekend collecting the left behind garbage and disposing of it at the nearest disposal site.
Volunteers met at the Islamabad Zoo parking lot near the Pir Sohawa Road police check post and moved to various view points in vehicles to clean the area near Monal Restaurant.
Around 40 to 50 volunteers, including boys, girls and families, joined the ‘Happy Trash Hunting’ clean-up drive.
The small but active group of volunteers included Tassadaq Malik, Irfan Siddique and Zaheer Khan, who have been using social media to raise awareness and are also trying to evoke a response from the authorities.
After the success of ‘Clean Islamabad Hiking Trails’ and ‘Painting the Future’, the Islamabad Wildlife Management Board team has now decided to arrange a bigger event to clean up view points on Pir Sohawa Road, Mr. Siddiqui said.
Islamabad is blessed with the beautiful surroundings. There are 6 main hiking trails leading to the top of the Margalla Hills which cater to both serious hikers and occasional visitors like tourists both local and foreigners. These hills are home to some unique flora and fauna and various species of wild life.
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