Delhi govt to plant 5.2mn saplings this year; drive from February 26

The 5.2 million saplings include 2 million big trees, 2.5 million shrubs, and 700,000 saplings, which will be distributed among the people

The Delhi government will plant 5.2 million saplings as part of a year-long special plantation drive which will be kicked off by chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on February 26. Announcing the drive’s launch, environment and forests minister Gopal Rai said, “We want to make Delhi green, and the plantation drive is one of the major initiatives to achieve our goal. We request all residents of Delhi to participate in the drive, so that together we can make our city more beautiful and healthier,” Rai said after a multi-department meeting at Delhi secretariat on Tuesday.

Last year, the government set a target of planting 4.2 million saplings, but ended up planting more—4.7 million. (PTI)

During the meeting, the minister directed the formation of an expert committee to oversee third-party audits of the saplings planted under the drives. This committee will assess whether the trees are planted in the right manner and cared for properly, resulting in a healthy growth of the plants.

The 5.2 million saplings include 2 million big trees, 2.5 million shrubs, and 700,000 saplings, which will be distributed among the people. Last year, the government set a target of planting 4.2 million saplings, but ended up planting more—4.7 million. This year, the forest department was assigned the target of planting the maximum number of trees—1.8 million saplings—while other agencies will also contribute towards the initiative with NDMC planting 500,000, education department 450,000, Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) 400,000 and Delhi Development Authority (DDA) 900,000 sapling, Rai said.

During the 2020 assembly election, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) had promised that it will get 20 million saplings planted to make Delhi green. Till now, the government claims it has planted over 7 million saplings, and that due to its efforts to promote tree plantation, the green cover of Delhi has increased to 23.6%.

“According to the most recently released list of the most polluted cities in the world, Delhi is no longer in the top 10, as was the case previously. This is largely due to the fact that the plan to combat air pollution includes a participatory feature, which has led to these great results. In 2016, the annual number of ‘good’ days with low pollution was 109. Last year, the figure increased to 160 such ‘good’ days. This is reflected in the newer international reports on air pollution as well,” Rai said.

The minister said the tree plantation drive will be a joint collaboration with several Delhi government departments including the forest department, education department, Delhi Jal Board, Public Works Department, Delhi State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation, etc.