Noida (UP), Jul 5 (PTI) As many as 9,36,000 saplings were planted across Gautam Buddh Nagar as part of a mega afforestation drive carried out in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday, officials said.

The district had set a target of 8,86,000 plantations but exceeded it by 50,000, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Pramod Srivastava said.

Also Read | 632 COVID-19 Cases Have Been Reported in Rajasthan : Live News Breaking & Coronavirus Updates on July 5, 2020.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had called for the massive afforestation drive across all districts of Uttar Pradesh as part of his 'Van Mahotsav' campaign, chiefly involving government departments, targeting 25 crore plantations in the state.

"Overall, 9,36,000 saplings were planted across Gautam Buddh Nagar at 882 sites. The Forest Department planted 3,02,000 saplings followed by the Noida Authority (2,76,000), the Greater Noida Authority (52,000) and the Yamuna Expressway Authority (50,000) among others," the DFO said.

Also Read | Fact Check: Viral Social Media Posts Claiming 'Cycle Girl' Jyoti Paswan Raped And Murdered in Bihar's Darbhanga by Ex-Armyman is Fake.

District Magistrate Suhas L Y, Noida Authority CEO Ritu Maheshwari, Greater Noida Authority CEO Narendra Bhooshan and Yamuna Expressway Authority CEO Arun Vir Singh also planted saplings during the campaign and were joined by local MP Mahesh Sharma and local MLAs Pankaj Singh, Tejpal Nagar and Dhirendra Singh.

The Noida Authority, on its part too, exceeded its own target of plantations with a record figure of 2,76,000, its General Manager Rajev Tyagi said.

Eminent citizens across Noida and Greater Noida chipped in while the Indo-Tibetan Border Police personnel too joined the campaign in Greater Noida, the officials said.

Inmates of the Luksar jail in the district also participated in the green drive by planting over 150 saplings, Prison Superintendent Vipin Mishra said.

(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)