A group of citizens has offered to participate in the state government’s target of planting two crore saplings this year on a single day.
The National Society of Clean Cities (NSCC) and representatives of mohalla committees in the city met the forest and garden department officials on Saturday to chart out a plan for the effort.
The society’s members said the plan will include areas where the trees can be planted, which trees and how the project can be sustained.
Satish Khot of the society said, “There are various reserved forest areas in the city, which at times suffer due to encroachments. This time, we have asked the forest department for details and have offered our help in planting and maintaining the trees. If the target of planting two crore saplings has to be met, citizens’ involvement and awareness is a must.“
Many members of the groups have volunteered to help the garden department with planting saplings on July 1. “We have also come forward and have volunteered to act as a bridge, help raise funds from corporates for construction of boundary walls around the reserve forest areas which fall within the city . We have approached the Mahratta Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Agriculture,“ Sheila Christian, vice-president of the society , said. This time the officials are also open and are as king people to plant saplings, she added.
As per the Forest Department, around 250 families have been roped in apart from regular volunteers to look after the urban forests and the new saplings which will be monitored for a year after which feedback will be taken from volunteers.
“The citizens were very enthusiastic and wanted to know which trees can be planted and the areas. I advised them that indigenous tre es of the local area should be planted. If there is a wall or a building nearby , then at least 1-1.5 foot space should be left for good growth,“ a garden department official said.
DVR Rao, acting president of the society , said all NSCC members will chip in once the monsoon sets in in areas just outside the PMC limits as most NGOs or students who plant trees do it in the urban limits.
“We would prepare a plan on who would take care of the saplings once planted and on whose land they can be planted.“
As per an earlier TOI report, the last record is in the name of Madhya Pradesh forest department which had planted 1.43 crore saplings on 9,272 sites on a single day during ‘Hariyali Mahotsav’ on July 31, 2014. The state forest department has planned to break this record by a plantation of over two crore saplings, especially in Marathwada which has the lowest forest cover of 0.75%.
Source : TOI
