Gopal Rai to review special tree plantation campaign; calls meeting of concerned departments on Feb 21

New Delhi [India], February 10 (ANI): Delhi Environment and Forests Minister Gopal Rai chaired a high-level meeting with senior officers of the Forest Department on Friday at the Delhi Secretariat.
After the meeting, Gopal Rai said, "a meeting has been called at the Delhi Secretariat on February 21 with the senior officials of all concerned departments or agencies regarding the special campaign for tree plantation."
Gopal Rai further said that the amount of green area in Delhi has significantly increased as a result of several initiatives under the leadership of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.
"The Delhi Government had set a goal of planting or distributing roughly 43 lakh saplings this year under the Tree Plantation Campaign, and so far 47 lakh saplings have been planted or distributed in this direction," he said.
Gopal Rai informed that out of these, 10 lakh 80 thousand by the Forest Department, 5 lakh 47 thousand by the DDA, 5 lakh 23 thousand by the MCD, 2 lakh 73 thousand by the Education Department, 42 thousand by the DSIIDC, 13 thousand by the DUSIB, 3 lakh 86 thousand by the PWD, 30 thousand by the CPWD, 7 lakh 57 thousand by the NDMC, 1 lakh 3 thousand by the Delhi Jal Board, 26 thousand by the Northern Railway, 16 thousand by the Delhi Cantonment Board, 12 thousand by NDPL and 30 thousand by BSES and other departments were planted, and around 8 lakh saplings were distributed by different departments.
"Additionally, as a result of the efforts of the Government, Delhi's green area, which was 20 per cent in 2013, has expanded to 23.6 per cent in 2021. Also, Delhi has surpassed all other cities in the nation in terms of per-capita forest cover" he added.
The minister ordered the officers of the Forest Department to get the details of tree plantation from the departments, as to where the saplings have been planted. In order to determine the success rate of the saplings planted in Delhi as part of the tree-planting programme, the concerned departments have also been directed to conduct a third-party audit.
Gopal Rai further appealed to the people of Delhi and said, "Everyone should make an effort to improve the environment of Delhi. This campaign will not only increase the green area of Delhi but also prepare a roadmap to fight the problem of pollution in future." (ANI)