Yogi govt’s plantation drives increase UP’s green cover by over 9 pc in six years

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], July 22 (ANI): In what appears to be a major achievement for Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the green cover of Uttar Pradesh has increased by 9.23 per cent in the last six years, a Forest Survey of India report has revealed, said an official statement on Saturday. 
Even before the beginning of the massive plantation campaign on Saturday, the Yogi government set a record of planting a total of 136.98 crore saplings in the state from 2017-18 to 2022-23.
The record includes 49.88 crore saplings planted by the Forest Department and 82.10 crore saplings by other departments in different parts of the state till last year. A total of 5.72 crore saplings were planted in 2017-18, 11.77 crore in 2018-19, 22.60 crore in 2019-20, 25.87 crore in 2020-21, 30.53 crore in 2021-2022 and 35.49 crore in 2022-23, said the official statement further.
According to the report of Forest Survey of India, there has been a significant increase in forest cover and tree cover in UP. While there has been a total increase of 417 square kilometres (0.18 percent) in forest cover, an increase of 377 square kilometres (0.16 percent) has been recorded in tree cover so far. The total green area of the state has increased by 794 square kilometres with a total increase of 9.23 percent.
The ongoing plantation drive for the last six years has not only increased the green area of the state, but has also led to significant rise in the number of wildlife in the state. The number of national animal tigers in the state has increased from 118 to 173 in the last five years, mentioned the official statement.
Similarly, the number of elephants has also increased from 265 to 352. Not only this, there has also been a significant increase in the number of the state bird stork. In the last five years, the number of storks has increased from 13,670 to 17,586.
The Yogi government is laying special focus on planting plants of different species in the state to eliminate environmental imbalance and achieve inclusive development. The government’s emphasis is on planting trees like teak, rosewood, jamun (Indian black plum), arjuna, guava, drumstick, amla (gooseberry), neem and bamboo, said the statement.
On the instructions of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the work of planting a maximum number of industrial and timber trees is also being done in the state. Apart from this, fruit bearing, medicinal and aromatic, environmental and fodder, ornamental and other plants have been planted in every part of the state. (ANI)