Over 1 million saplings planted in GB Nagar as state observes Van Mahotsav

The plantation target for Gautam Budh Nagar was 1.094 million, but the drive exceeded the target by 118.20%, planting 1,105,074 saplings, said forest officers

More than 1.1 million saplings were planted across Gautam Budh Nagar district on Saturday to commemorate ‘Van Mahotsav’, the annual plantation drive held in Uttar Pradesh on July 22.

The forest department planted 126,750 saplings, while other local government bodies, schoolchildren, NGOs, and the general public planted 978,324 saplings. (Sunil Ghosh/HT Photo)

The drive aims to plant 350 million saplings across the state this year, with 1.75 billion saplings planted in five years. Of the 350 million, 300 million were to be planted on July 22 and 50 million on August 15.

The district administration, Gautam Budh Nagar Police, various government departments, NGOs, and residents took part in the drive, which saw the forest department alone plant 126,000 saplings on Saturday. According to officials, the district’s target for the day was 1,094,000.

P K Srivastava, district forest officer (DFO), Gautam Budh Nagar, revealed details about the plantation drive held in the district on Tuesday. “The state target for the day was to plant 350 million saplings to mark ‘Van Mahotsav’. The plantation target for Gautam Budh Nagar was 1.094 million, but the drive was far more successful, as we exceeded the target by 118.20%, planting 1,105,074 saplings in a single day. The forest department alone planted 126,750 saplings, while other local government bodies, schoolchildren, NGOs, and the general public planted 978,324 saplings,” he said, adding, “On August 15, 300,000 more saplings will be planted in the district.”