Drone-based seed dispersal project rolled out to enhance green cover on Trikuta hills
Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board launches drone-based afforestation drive on Trikuta Hills to increase green cover, using cutting-edge technology.
Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB), on Tuesday, embarked upon a drone-based afforestation drive to increase green cover on Trikuta Hills, which has the holy cave shrine.
This pioneering effort leverages cutting-edge technology for environmental conservation and sustainable development, officials said.
Shrine Board’s chief executive officer, Anshul Garg said, “The board has initiated a drone-seed technology to target degraded hills of the Trikuta range where men can’t reach for plantation”.
The board has engaged Prime UAV which has a capacity of carrying 10 kg seeds and can hover for 15 minutes.
“It will spread seeds over degraded hills. The programme has been devised for the next eight years,” said Garg.
The CEO informed that following the directives of Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha to speed up afforestation with the use of technology, the shrine board initiated the exercise.
“We first conducted a survey with the help of helicopters to identify the degraded patches and then looked for technology-driven options. We found that drone technology is being used in Gujarat for seed dispersal,” he said.
“Trikuta Hills have 11,000 hectares of forest area. We identified 109 hectares of degraded slopes. We launched the drive today itself and the seed dispersal will be taken up during this monsoon,” he informed.
The initiative involves dispersing seeds of native species like panicum, trifolium, bamboo, khair, pharlai, arjun, sukh-chain, and bottle brush, covering an area of 109 hectares.
The CEO further said that the shrine board has preferred seeds of the local species, especially soil-binding species.
It may be stated here that every year, the shrine board plants one lakh saplings on Trikuta Hills.
“This drone seed dispersal is over and above one lakh saplings that we plant manually every year. The seed dispersal will be monitored regularly by the drones. Our attempt is to ensure maximum survival, to see how the degraded patches improved,” he said.
He informed that the shrine board in the past 9 to 10 years has planted around 17 lakh plants. The board has a very well-maintained nursery in the foothills of the Trikuta range.
“Our survival rate of the plantations is 80%. Till now, we were targeting accessible areas on Trikuta Hills but now with drone technology, we are trying to reach inaccessible slopes,” he said.
He said that the drone seed dispersal on the slopes of Trikuta hills was being taken up as a pilot project and the board intended to have its own team and the technology in the forest wing to independently implement this project.
On July 13, the forest department of Jammu and Kashmir embarked upon a seed ball plantation drive on the hills of Udhampur district to increase green cover.
The department had undertaken a seed ball plantation drive on the steep slopes of the Patnitop tourist resort. The forest department used a cable car facility to cover the unreachable slopes of the hills. In 2023, around 94 lakh pilgrims had visited the cave shrine.