Forest department’s green cover drive a damp squib

The tall claims made by the forest department last year to improve green cover in the city seem to have fallen flat.

The tall claims made by the forest department last year to improve green cover in the city seem to have fallen flat.

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Various departments of the district have not initiated any campaign to plant saplings despite letters being issued by the forest department. In 2011, the forest department had set targets for 36 government departments such as Haryana tourism, health, Haryana Urban Development Authority (Huda) etc, to plant saplings in the district.

While a few departments have not been able to fulfil their target, some have feigned ignorance stating that they were “never informed about any such move.” To address the issue, forest officials have now decided to raise the issue with the deputy commissioner.

Some of the departments that have not planted a single sapling include Huda, mining, Haryana tourism.

On the other hand, departments that have fallen short of their targets are Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon, Pollution Control Board, police etc. “The campaign was initiated to make the city green but some departments have not taken the project seriously. It was an effort to add green cover. The forest department cannot bring change without the support of other departments. We will raise the issue with the deputy commissioner,” said P Kajla, district forest officer.

Parveen Kumar, Huda administrator, said, “I planted 25,000 saplings a few days ago. I’m putting an effort to make the city green but the forest department has never bothered to inform us about any such target or plantation.” Compared to 3 lakh trees in the district in 1999, their count had reduced to 1.32 lakh in 2011. Besides, forest land has also been reduced by 240 hectares to 9,268 hectares.