NDMC to geo-tag 180,000 trees in New Delhi to monitor green cover

Around 180,000 trees in the New Delhi district will be geo-tagged and given unique identity numbers to create a “green” database in an effort to track their numbers and ensure their health and longevity, officials of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) have said, adding that the project, which started on Wednesday, will cover all trees in parks, on roadsides, central verges and properties and will include details such as their heritage status, age, common name, disease, if any, and pruning status

Around 180,000 trees in the New Delhi district will be geo-tagged and given unique identity numbers to create a “green” database in an effort to track their numbers and ensure their health and longevity, officials of the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) have said, adding that the project, which started on Wednesday, will cover all trees in parks, on roadsides, central verges and properties and will include details such as their heritage status, age, common name, disease, if any, and pruning status.

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NDMC vice-chairman Satish Upadhyay said all 180,000 trees in the district will be covered by the project. “A large number of trees was damaged in thunderstorms this year. We have put up QR codes on 4,000 trees under a ”know about your tree” programme. And now, we will start geo-tagging all 180,000 trees, provide them with unique identification numbers and codes so that we can monitor them. A digital database will be created to include even the minutest details about each individual tree,” he said.

NDMC had reported that about 102 trees were uprooted and 1,058 more damaged in Lutyens’ Delhi in a squall on May 30 this year. New Delhi is the greenest part of the city -- the New Delhi Municipal Council covers just 3% of the total geographical area of Delhi but 64.5% of its area is under green cover.

“Being the capital of the country, it is necessary to maintain the greens in their best shape. The initiative of geo-tagging started on Wednesday and NDMC has approved an expenditure of ₹6.2 crore for the annual maintenance of green cover in fiscal 2022-23,” the NDMC official said, asking not to be named.

NDMC council member Kuljeet Chahal said civic body is also developing a 25-year plan for maintaining green cover. “The plan will cover the study of trees, measures to strengthen their roots, and measures needed to be care for trees near heritage properties. A task force is being created under this initiative as well as a quick response team,” he said.

NDMC had completed a tree census in 2020 followed by a survey of trees on 135 roads in Lutyens’ Delhi, where neem, jamun, arjun, peepal and amaltas saplings were planted almost a century ago. The details captured during the census included a tree’s girth, height, crown area, location, deformity, blooming season, carbon dioxide intake and oxygen releasing capacity.

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