Some residents of Khyber’s Mandi Kass deliberately uprooted trees planted by the government as a part of its countrywide plantation drive on Sunday.

The men said that the administration had planted the trees on disputed land without their permission. They staged a protest against the government.

The participants of the plantation drive tried to negotiate with the protesters, but nothing worked out. The protesters carried black flags in their hands and chanted slogans. They also gathered around the people planting the trees there and tried to physically overpower them.

They claimed government did not take permission from them.

According to the district administration, over 6,000 new trees planted by them were removed by these people.

Chief Minister Mahmood Khan and the district’s deputy commissioner have taken notice of the incident and promised action against the perpetrators.

Prime Minister Imran Khan launched the biggest tree plantation drive on Sunday to plant 3.5 million saplings across the country in a day.

Over a million volunteers of the Prime Minister’s Tiger Force across the country also planted trees as part of Ten Billion Tree Tsunami initiative, marking “Tiger Force Day” as earlier announced by the premier.