Plant your name in the park, help it grow

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has started a new scheme called Sardar Patel Vriksh Yojana, under which residents can plant a sapling in the name of their loved ones, reports Neelam Pandey.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) has started a new scheme called Sardar Patel Vriksh Yojana, under which residents can plant a sapling in the name of their loved ones.

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“We have started this scheme to encourage people to plant more trees in their area. It will promote greenery in the city,” said Dharamveer Singh, chairman of MCD’s garden committee.

“Also, as the trees will be named after their loved ones, so there will be an emotional attachment towards the tree and people will take extra care of it.”

A resident will have to shell out Rs 1,110 for getting a sapling planted in a neighbourhood park. The civic agency will cover the sapling with a tree guard and a strip will be pasted on it displaying the name of the person.

Residents will also be able to choose the plant species.

“Once the residents have selected the plant, our gardener will plant it and take care of it. But the idea is to motivate the residents to take care of these plants too,” said a senior MCD official.

To avail this scheme, residents will have to first deposit the money with the zonal deputy director of the horticulture department of the MCD.

People will be able to plant trees in parks that are above half an acre in size.

There are more than 2,000 such parks in the MCD area.

The scheme was inaugurated in October 2009 with Mayor Kanwar Sain planting a sapling in a New Friends Colony park.

The scheme has officially taken taken off now and residents can avail of it.

According to the civic agency while they plant two lakh saplings every year but most of them do not survive.