Kolkata: The large-scale destruction of greenery and unprecedented environmental pollution in Iraq caused by intensive bombing by the US-led coalition forces have touched a chord in the heart of a Kolkata-based social organisation which has come forward with a massive afforestation drive in the war-ravaged country.

The organisation, "Ganatantrik Nagarik Samity, Howrah", has already sought assistance of the principal chief conservator of forests, conservator of forests, Kolkata, and the Botanical Survey of India to identify the kind of saplings suited for plantation in Iraq.

''We have sought the technical know-how and expertise to carry out the task of plantation in the war-battered country where greenery has borne the brunt of bombardments and environmental pollution has assumed alarming proportion,'' the organisation's general secretary Subhas Dutta said.

He said that his organisation had already communicated with the Prime Minister, Union Home Minister and the External Affairs Minister to allow it to visit Iraq and carry out afforestation.

Dutta said they were also in touch with the environmentalists to ascertain the degree of environmental pollution in Baghdad, Basra and other Iraqi cities.

PTI