GREEN COVER- UP?

PLANTATION OF saplings seems to have become a number game that cloaks the reality in the State. So, do we need an agency on the lines of the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) in order to keep a tab on trees felled and planted? (The CEC has been constituted by the Supreme Court to protect and conserve wildlife).The answer may be a big yes, as the process involves crores of rupees. Compared to the money spent on plantation, the result on the ground looks unsatisfactory.

Despite heavy expenditure and the State Government’s claims on
plantation, the result seems unsatisfactory.

HT Image

PLANTATION OF saplings seems to have become a number game that cloaks the reality in the State.

So, do we need an agency on the lines of the Central Empowered Committee (CEC) in order to keep a tab on trees felled and planted? (The CEC has been constituted by the Supreme Court to protect and conserve wildlife).

The answer may be a big yes, as the process involves crores of rupees.
Compared to the money spent on plantation, the result on the ground looks unsatisfactory.

For instance, young environmentalist Vikranth Nath is not convinced about the State Government’s claim of having increased the tree cover in UP over the last few years.

He says bluntly, “I take it with a pinch of salt.”

Before the division of Uttar Pradesh, the forest cover in the State was 17.54 per cent. After Uttaranchal was created, only 4.4 per cent of the forest cover remained in Uttar Pradesh.

“Though there has been an increase in forest cover in the State, the credit goes to people who have contributed individually,” says former principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF) R S Bhadouria.

“It’s easy to achieve the number (proposed target), but difficult to look after plants till they attain a height of 12 feet in the next three years,” says ex-PCCF R L Singh. Each plant needs three years of care to survive. A sapling will qualify as a tree only after three years of care. There is no provision for follow-up action for the next three years. Before planting a tree, adequate soil work has to be done.

If such steps are not taken, a sapling is planted only for ‘that day’, adds Singh, making it clear that such plants have little chance of survival. A senior officer in the department says there is a basic flaw in the system. “The budgeting is annual, though it should be for a three-year period during which a sapling becomes a tree,” he says. Unavailability of land is another problem, says ex-PCCF Singh. He says land earmarked by the Forest Department is either encroached upon, or ‘unfit’ for plantation. On the contrary, Bhadouria says there is enough land for plantation. In Uttar Pradesh, 14 per cent of the land is usar, in other words it is alkaline or saline.

“The entire stretch of usar land from Bulandshahr to Ballia and degraded land between Bihad in Mathura region to Fatehpur should be brought under massive plantation,” advocates Bhadouria.

Since the division of Uttar Pradesh, the Forest Department claims that the forest cover has increased to 5.86 per cent from 4.4 per cent. The tree cover in the State is 3.20 per cent. As a result, the total forest cover is pegged at 9.06 per cent. But former IAS officer Devrat Dixit has rubbished the claim. “The mortality rate of trees planted is 60 per cent. For good growth, the survival rate should be about 80 per cent,” he argues. Apart from the Forest Department, other government departments and agencies like the LDA, LMC , the PWD and the Telecom Department also undertake plantations. “But there is a lack of coordination among the departments,” says CD Tiwari.

The target set for the current year by the Forest Department and other organisations is 30 crore plants.

“By September-end, the department will achieve the target,” says a senior officer. So far, claims the officer, the department has planted 70 per cent of sapling across the state. This includes the recent plantation of 2.18-lakh saplings during Independence Day. Contesting the claim, advocate Amar Singh says one must see the type of plants planted in the recently inaugurated UPVan in Ashiana. “Over 60 per cent of plants over 12 feet have dried up,” he says.

The target for the last four years has been: 15 crore (2003), 25 crore (2004), 30 crore (2005), and 30 crores (2006) plants. “The targets have been more or less consistently achieved,” says a senior officer. But Bhadouria says, “There has been a lot of fudging of figures.”

The budget for plantation of 30 crore plants is Rs 24.79 crore from private and other agencies and Rs 5.21 crore from the Forest Department.