300,000 saplings to be planted by Gurugram civic body this monsoon

The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) is targeting to plant 300,000 saplings, comprising 100,000 trees and 200,000 shrubs, this monsoon, according to a release issued by the civic body on Monday.

The Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) is targeting to plant 300,000 saplings, comprising 100,000 trees and 200,000 shrubs, this monsoon, according to a release issued by the civic body on Monday.

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Officials said that at least 10,000 peepal (sacred fig) and banyan trees, each, will be planted, as part of the exercise. The information was shared by MCG commissioner Mukesh Kumar Ahuja during a meeting with councillors at the PWD rest house.

“At present, the main objective of the MCG is to make adequate arrangements for the drainage of rainwater and increase the city’s green cover through planting saplings. A target of planting three lakh (300,000) saplings has been set by the MCG this monsoon. MCG has prepared a list of identified areas for the plantation and during today’s meeting councillors were asked to cooperate and identify more such places in their respective wards,” said Ahuja.

Only 9.2% of Gurugram’s total geographical area is under forest cover, a decline from 9.3% in 2017, according to a 2019 Forest Survey of India (FSI) report.

Last year, the MCG had planted at least 105,910 saplings across the city with the help of 269 residents’ welfare associations (RWAs), the largest drive undertaken by the civic body.

This time around, for the second edition of the citywide plantation drive, the MCG and Gurujal — an integrated water management initiative under the Gurugram administration to address the water crises in the district — opened registrations for RWAs and NGOs last week for taking part in the drive.

The sapling distribution will be carried out between mid-July and September.

Officials said that a key part of this year’s drive will be for RWAs and NGOs to sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for maintaining the saplings for three years. Each RWA or NGO will only be given a maximum of 500 saplings and all saplings will be sourced from MCG’s four nurseries, located in Kadipur, and sectors 15, 44 and 46.

However, environmentalists said that the civic body must not only focus on increasing the number of saplings.

Vaishali Rana Chandra, an environmentalist, said, “Rather than increasing the quantity, the MCG should focus on increasing the survival rate of saplings. The onus of saplings cannot be 100% on RWAs and NGOs. The MCG’s horticulture team should follow up on the growth of the saplings periodically and closely monitor it. The MCG should also publicly disclose the repercussions if RWAs or NGOs fail to maintain the saplings properly.”

First physical meeting in over two months

Monday’s meeting of MCG officials and councillors was the first physical meeting since April. The meeting started with a tribute to the late RS Rathee, the former councillor of Ward 35, who succumbed to Covid-19 last month, followed by a two-minute silence.

Ahuja asked all councillors to prepare a priority list of their respective wards, and make a separate list of pending development works, slow development works, future development works and poor quality works. He also apprised the councillors that the MCG is in the process of developing an online portal for addressing public grievances.

Issues of incorrect water bills, sanitation, streetlights, roads, the takeover of private colonies, drainage and internal transfers of ward officials and employees were discussed in the meeting.