By Our Correspondent
Lucknow: The UP government headed by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is gearing up to turn riverbanks across Uttar Pradesh green with the plantation of a total of 3,72,66,000 (37.27 million) saplings on 25061.84 hectares under the “Ped Lagao, Ped Bachao Jan Abhiyan-2024” campaign.
The government has set plantation targets for Ganga, Yamuna, and Hindon riverbanks as part of the campaign, which will run until September 30. Specifically, 7.75 million saplings will be planted across 5,096.42 hectares along the banks of the Ganga. Additionally, 534 sites along the Yamuna have also been identified for plantations.
In a nutshell
- 98.47 lakh saplings will be planted in 6581.32 hectares at 534 places along the Yamuna river
- UP govt set to beautify Hindon by planting four lakh saplings in 270.13 hectares
- Yogi govt targets 3,72,66,000 plantations on 25061.84 hectares along riverbanks in UP
- Nodal Officer appointed for carrying out plantation and other conservation works on riverbanks and catchments
To ensure the conservation of these plantations, the Yogi government has appointed nodal officers for oversight and management.
Under CM Yogi’s directives, plantations will be carried out along the banks of rivers as part of the holy stream initiative. Specifically, 676 sites have been identified along the Ganga River, where 7.75 million saplings will be planted across 5,096.42 hectares.
In the forest divisions along the Ganga, including Prayagraj, Pratapgarh, Kaushambi, Fatehpur, Varanasi, Ghazipur, Mirzapur, Bhadohi, Kashi Wildlife, and Ballia, an incentive scheme funded by the National Mission for Clean Ganga is also being implemented.
This scheme aims to promote the cultivation of medicinal plants in farmers’ fields. It proposes cultivating medicinal and aromatic plants on 2,500 hectares of private land, supported by establishing 17 departmental and 50 farmer nurseries.
CM Yogi has instructed the Forest Department, as the nodal agency of the Mahabhiyan, to develop greenery along the banks of the Yamuna, Hindon, and other rivers. For this purpose, the Forest Department has identified 534 sites along the Yamuna, where 9.85 million saplings will be planted over 6,581.32 hectares.
Additionally, 54 sites have been identified along the Hindon River for the plantation of 414,000 saplings across 270.13 hectares. To further enhance the greenery of Uttar Pradesh, 19.25 million saplings will be planted over 13,113.97 hectares at 1,392 sites along other rivers under the Holy Stream plantation initiative. Two thousand six hundred fifty-six sites have been identified, and over 37.27 million saplings will be planted across 25,061.84 hectares along the riverbanks this year.
The plan was developed with the Forest Department and the Jal Shakti-Sichai Vibhag. Together, they have created a framework for reviving rivers across the state. Various trees, including Neem, Drumstick, Tamarind, Arjun, jamun, Bel, Mango, Mahua, Teak, Sheesham, Guteel, Bamboo, Peepal, Pakkad, and Banyan, will be planted along the riverbanks.
Nodal officers appointed for supervise plantation
Additional Chief Forest Conservator PP Singh has said that efforts have been stepped up for the plantations and conservation of plants along the riverbanks. Singh added thar nodal officers have been appointed for overseeing the project. The region wise nodal officers are the following:
Ganga- Chief Forest Conservator, Southern Region Prayagraj
Yamuna- Chief Forest Conservator, Kanpur Division Kanpur
Hindon- Chief Forest Conservator, Western Region Meerut
Other major rivers- Chief Forest Conservator, Eastern Region, Gorakhpur
