Lucknow, Jun 17 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Saturday said his government has set a target to plant 35 crore saplings on August 15.

As he made the announcement, the CM called on all government departments, institutions, and all state residents to contribute to make the event a success.

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According to a statement, the CM gave instructions for the massive tree plantation campaign in a meeting held at his official 5 Kalidas Marg residence.

More than 131 crore saplings have been planted in the state in the last six years with the support of the public, he said.

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Adityanath said that according to recent reports, there has been an increase of 794 sq kms in the total green area of the state during 2015-2021.

Our target is to increase the total green area of the state from nine per cent at present to 15 per cent by 2026-27.

According to this target, we have to plant and protect 175 crore trees in the next five years, said the CM.

He also called for a state-wide environment protection campaign from July 1 to July 7.

(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)