Delhi government to plant 35.38 lakh saplings this year

New Delhi: In a bid to encourage the citizens to take up tree plantations, Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Tuesday announced a new green helpline number that will help the residents of the national capital in participating in a mega tree plantation drive.

Speaking to reporters, the minister said that the helpline no. 1800118600 will provide complete information about the ‘Mega Tree Plantation Drive’ of the Delhi Government which will kick off in July.

The government has set a goal to plant 35.38 saplings in the current financial year of which, approx 29 lakh saplings will be planted and around 7 lakh will be distributed free of cost.

 Various major tasks, such as soil preparation, excavating trenches, preparing saplings, soil fertilization, and so on, will be done in the months of May and June. And the process of planting the saplings will begin in the month of July.

“Various major tasks, such as soil preparation, excavating trenches, preparing saplings, soil fertilization, and so on, will be done in the months of May and June. And the process of planting the saplings will begin from the month of July,” Rai told the reporters. 

The minister said that the ultimate goal of the tree plantation drive is to increase the green cover of the national capital and mitigate the pollution level. He urged Delhi residents to contribute to it.

“I request people to plant trees on their special occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries. This effort will not only expand Delhi’s green cover, but it will also lay out a plan to combat pollution in the future,” Rai appealed.

The minister informed that all RWAs, NGOs, and other similar organisations working in this field have also been appealed to participate in the Mega Tree Plantation Drive. 

Under the Mega Tree Plantation Drive, all the concerned departments have been directed to conduct third-party audits to check the survival rate of plants planted last year in Delhi. If a department has not yet had a third-party audit completed, orders have been issued to have it audited by the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Combating Climate Change (MGICCC). In the future also, this institute will perform further plantation-related third-party audits,” the Environment Minister informed.

In the year 2013, the green area in Delhi was 20 per cent now it has increased to 23.06 percent for the year 2021.

“In addition, Delhi has surpassed all other cities in the country in terms of per capita forest cover,” the Minister said.