Adityanath directs departments to achieve target of planting 36.46 crore saplings for UP

Lucknow, Jul 9 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Tuesday that under the 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam' campaign, the state has got a target of planted more than 36.46 crore saplings this year and directed all the concerned departments to achieve this target by July 20.

At a meeting held at his official residence on Tuesday, Adityanath said work should be done by setting department-wise and district-wise targets for the state-wide plantation campaign, the UP government said in a statement.

Speaking on the occasion, the chief minister said UP has the immense blessings of nature and God. The plantation campaign here has now taken the form of a mass movement.

More than 168 crore saplings have been planted here in the last six years, out of which 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 2021-22, 35.49 in 2022-23 and 36.16 crore in 2023-24, he said.

All ministers should be present in the districts under their charge and plant saplings along with local public representatives and the general public. Nodal officers should play an active role in this programme, he said.

The chief minister said availability of plants is very important for the success of plantation campaign. Nearly 54.20 crore plants have been prepared by the Department of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.

Along with planting these plants, proper arrangements should be made for their protection, he said, and added that geo-tagging of plantation sites should be done.

On this occasion, Adityanath also announced the summer census of cranes-2024. He informed that this time 19,918 cranes have been found in the census. This number was 19,522 in 2023 and 19,188 in 2022.

He also unveiled the logo of 'Ped Lagao-Ped Bachao Jan Abhiyan-2024' and released the tree plantation flip book.

The chief minister said with widespread public cooperation, the total green area of the state is continuously increasing. The state government's target is to increase the total green area of the state from 9.23 per cent in 2021-22 to 15 per cent by 2026-27. In accordance with this target, 175 crore saplings will have to be planted and protected, he said.

Adityanath said the state government is working towards increasing the income of farmers through 'carbon finance'. For this, incentives will also be provided to the farmers by the state government. Information about carbon finance should be made available to as many farmers as possible, he said.

He said the departments, which do not have sufficient land should coordinate with other departments and take forward the work of plantation on priority.

He directed the ministers in-charge and nodal officers to join the plantation public campaign. Some new innovations should also be taken forward regarding the plantation public campaign, he added.

The chief minister said the beneficiaries of the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana should be provided with drumstick (sahjan) plants and drumstick plants should be planted in Anganwadi centres. This plant proves to be very effective in preventing malnutrition. PTI NAV KSS KSS