Aurangabad, Jun 17 (PTI) The Marathwada Eco Battalion, tasked with increasing green cover in the region, has been given a five-year extension in tenure by the Maharashtra government, a top official said on Friday.

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The Marathwada Eco Battalion will now be active till December 2027, Commanding Officer Colonel Mansur Ali Khan told PTI.

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"The battalion was formed in December 2017 and its term was to end in December this year. It has now been extended till December 2027. Now we have a plan to plant nearly two lakh saplings per year till 2027. We have undertaken projects at 10 sites in Aurangabad," he said.

The Eco Battalion was set up as part of plans to increase the forest cover in Maharashtra from 20 per cent currently to an ideal 33 per cent.

A state government release said the Eco Battalion had undertaken plantation over an area of 662 hectares, and has, so far, planted 8.71 lakh saplings with a success rate of 89.54 per cent.

The forest cover in eight districts of Marathwada is 4.82 per cent and is spread over the area of 3121 square kilometers, it 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)