Yogi govt scripts history with more than 30 crore saplings planted on a single day in UP

CM Yogi plants saplings in Bijnor & Muzaffarnagar, cabinet ministers in other districts
30,21,51,570 saplings planted till 5 pm on the first day of massive plantation drive
All 26 departments take part in plantation drive in 75 districts and 18 divisions of UP

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh created history on Saturday with a total of 30,21,51,570 (over 30 crore) saplings planted across the state till 5 pm, exceeding the target of 30 crore saplings, on the occasion of the launch of a massive plantation drive by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

CM Yogi inaugurated the campaign by planting saplings on the banks of Ganga in Bijnor and Muzaffarnagar while the ministers of the state government also planted saplings in different districts. It is worth mentioning here that in view the threat of increasing desertification worldwide, environmental degradation and damage to biodiversity, Yogi Adityanath has been holding plantation campaigns regularly for the last six years.

After the record plantation of the first day of the Tree Plantation Campaign 2023, CM Yogi described it as a ‘Plantation Festival in the new Uttar Pradesh of New India’, and said that Uttar Pradesh has expressed its gratitude towards nature by planting more than 30 crore saplings on a single day. Notably, a target of 30 crore saplings had been set by the Yogi government.

“By imbibing the spirit of ‘Mata Bhoomi: Putro’ham Prithivya’, people in all the 18 divisions and 75 districts participated in this pious work with great enthusiasm and gaiety. Today’s effort will be helpful in providing ‘Clean-Prosperous-Green’ environment to the coming generations. Hearty congratulations and greetings to all the people’s representatives, voluntary organizations, social organizations and the people of the state including the administration for this commendable contribution”, CM remarked.

Prominent among the ministers who planted saplings in different districts included: Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya (Prayagraj and Kaushambi), Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak (Rae Bareli and Barabanki, Cabinet Minister Swatantra Dev Singh and Forest-Environment Minister Arun Saxena (Bijnor and Muzaffarnagar), Agriculture Minister Surya Pratap Shahi (Ayodhya and Amethi), Finance Minister Suresh Khanna (Lucknow and Gorakhpur), Cabinet Minister Baby Rani Maurya (Jhansi and Jalaun), and Minister of State for Forest-Environment KP Malik (Saharanpur). Governor Anandi Ben Patel also planted saplings in Chhata Mathura.

Real time updates will be available on Haritima Amrit One App 3.1

The plantations took place on forest land, defense and railway land, gram panchayat and community land as well as along expressways, roads, canals, railway tracks under the campaign. Saplings were also planted on a large scale on lands of development authorities, industrial complex, medical and educational institutes, other government land, private land of farmers and private premises of citizens. In order to ensure transparency in the campaign, the Yogi government has developed the Android based Haritima Amrit Van mobile app version 3.1. The Chief Minister has given a clear instruction that like the previous governments, the plantation campaign should not be limited on paper, and effective monitoring of plantations taking place should be ensured. This year a complete arrangement has been made for geo-tagging of plants. Along with this, the Forest Department has also made full use of technology.

Yogi govt’s plantation drives increase UP’s green cover by over 9% in 6 years

In what appears to be a major achievement for Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the green cover of Uttar Pradesh has increased by 9.23 percent in the last six years, a Forest Survey of India report has revealed.

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. This 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. 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 kilometers (0.18 percent) in forest cover, an increase of 377 square kilometers (0.16 percent) has been recorded in tree cover so far. The total green area of the state has increased by 794 square kilometers 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 tiger in the state has increased from 118 to 173 in the last five years. 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. On the instructions of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the work of planting 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.

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