Delhi begins plantation amid a shortage of workforce and fund crunch

The state forest department has set a mammoth target of planting 3.1 million saplings this season. However, senior officials said that during the Covid-19 lockdown, several contractual gardeners and outsourced labourers left for their villages, which is likely to affect the plantation process.

The Delhi government’s forest department and other road-owning agencies, such as the four municipalities (east, north, south Delhi municipal corporations and New Delhi Municipal Council), the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and the Public Works Department (PWD), are to begin the annual task of planting trees across the city. However, this year, the agencies are struggling to meet these targets because of a major shortage of workforce and funds.

Delhi environment minister Gopal Rai flagged off the plantation drive on Friday.

The state forest department has set a mammoth target of planting 3.1 million saplings this season. However, senior officials said that during the Covid-19 lockdown, several contractual gardeners and outsourced labourers left for their villages, which is likely to affect the plantation process.

“We depend a lot on outsourced labour to meet the plantation target, but this year, we are facing a major labour crunch. Our own staff cannot handle such a massive target. Hopefully, in the next few weeks, labour will return and we will be able to meet the target,” a senior forest department official said.

The official explained that even though most saplings were prepared for this season in nurseries months in advance, they need an additional workforce to shift these saplings to the required locations without damaging them.

“Because these saplings are generally planted on the sides of the road, the possibility of them being damaged is higher if we directly plant them on the site. This is why we first let the saplings gain some strength in the nurseries before moving them,” the official said.

Every year 6,000 to 8,000 people are engaged by the department.

From July 10, the department started its plantation drive, and this annual exercise will continue till the end of September (the end of the monsoon).

Delhi’s environment minister Gopal Rai, who inaugurated the plantation drive for the rest of the season on Friday, said that these plantation targets were decided after a detailed consultation with departments.

“We aim to plant as many saplings as we can to improve Delhi’s green belt. We are going to not only meet our targets, but surpass them,” Rai said.

Other road-owning agencies, responsible for increasing the city’s green cover, are also facing similar hurdles that are likely to impede the plantation drive this year.

A senior official of the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) said that Covid-19 will have an impact on the plantation drive, which is to start next week. He said that apart from the labour crisis, a fund crunch has hit the municipality.

“Due to the unavailability of labour this year, we couldn’t manage to grow the desired number of saplings in our nurseries. We will now have to rely on NGOs and the forest department to donate plants to us as we are unable to buy them due to a fund crunch,” the official said, requesting to not to be named.

He said that the civic body is yet to receive a plantation target from the forest department. At present, there are around 1,250 permanent gardeners with SDMC.

A senior official of the North Delhi Municipal Corporation also said that due to a lack of funds, the civic body could not procure semi-grown canopy plants and will have to depend on a limited number of low-height saplings. He said that semi-grown plants’ survival rate is better than the small saplings’.

He said that there are around 1,600 to 1,700 gardeners available with the civic body, but an additional workforce might be required for a massive plantation drive. He said that this year’s target is to plant 50,000 trees and one lakh shrubs.

Jai Prakash, mayor, north Delhi, said, “We will optimally use our existing workforce to successfully achieve our plantation target. Due to the lack of funds and a workforce, we will not conduct a big ceremonial plantation drive. Since we could not buy plants due to shortage of funds, we will request the forest department, NGOs and corporate houses to donate saplings for the cause.”

The officials of the East Delhi Municipal Corporation also reiterated similar problems and said that they would try to make the plantation drive a success using limited resources.

Delhi Development Authority (DDA), which has a target of planting 9.4 lakh saplings, said they are yet to begin the plantation drive and if such problems are encountered in the process, they will look for solutions.

“There is no doubt that there is a shortage of labour these days, not just for plantation but for all development projects. But we are hoping that with migrant labour now returning to cities, we will be able to get ample labour to efficiently complete our target,” a DDA spokesperson said.

The officials of PWD’s horticulture department said that there was a shortage of labourers for plantation. “There are nearly 700 permanent gardeners with the department and we will require an additional workforce to meet the target in time. Every year, contractual staff, as well as permanent staff, is engaged in the exercise, but this year due to Covid-19, many contractual workers have gone to their hometowns,” the official said.