India News | Delhi Govt to Launch Second Phase of Plantation Drive from Oct 15

New Delhi, Sep 13 (PTI) Delhi government will start the second phase of its plantation drive from October 15 that will focus on planting saplings in the Yamuna floodplains, Environment Minister Gopal Rai said on Tuesday.

Addressing a press conference, he said the government had set a target of planting 35 lakh saplings this year, and more than 33 lakh of them have already been planted.

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"So, we have decided to raise the target to 42 lakh. This is the first time the plantation target is being increased," he said.

The second phase will continue till the end of March. The focus will be on planting saplings in the Yamuna floodplains, he said.

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"An audit of plantation drives showed a poor survival rate of saplings planted before or during the monsoon season in the Yamuna floodplains. These saplings die due to floods,” he said.

"So, we decided to change our strategy. We did not plant any saplings in the floodplains in the monsoon season. It will be taken up from October 15 now," he added.

The minister said 7.94 saplings were planted by the forest department, 5.59 lakh by the Delhi Development Authority, 2.95 lakh by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, 2.03lakh by the education department, 3.2 lakh by the Public Works Department and 4.43 by the New Delhi Municipal Council.

Rai said the forest department has been directed to conduct random inspections of the plantation done by various departments.

He also said that the environment department will finalise the action plan to mitigate air pollution in winter at a meeting on September 16.

Delhi's winter action plan focuses on stubble management, dust pollution, vehicular emission, open burning of garbage, industrial pollution, green war room and green Delhi application, pollution hotspots, real-time apportionment study, smog tower, e-waste parks, plantation, eco-farming, public participation, firecrackers and joint action with neighbouring states.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)