Delhi to geo-tag every sapling planted under green campaign, says Sirsa

Every sapling planted under its ongoing plantation campaign will be geo-tagged to enable scientific monitoring and improve its long-term survival, said Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa on Friday.

The announcement was made during a plantation drive at PBG Ground in the Delhi Ridge, where Chief Secretary Rajeev Verma and senior government officials participated by planting saplings.

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Sirsa said the geo-tagging initiative aims to ensure that plants are monitored beyond the initial stage. “The objective is not merely to increase plantation numbers but to create a sustainable green legacy for future generations,” he said.

The minister also said the government has prepared a comprehensive 10-year plantation strategy focused on expanding Delhi’s green cover through native tree species that provide greater shade, generate more oxygen, require less water and help reduce pollution.

He said around 15 lakh trees and saplings are being planted across the Delhi Ridge, and other identified green areas under an eco-restoration programme to strengthen the Capital’s ecological balance.

Highlighting public participation in the campaign, Sirsa said members of the judiciary, government officials, diplomats from more than 70 countries, educational institutions, religious organisations and citizen groups have joined the plantation drive.

The minister also linked the afforestation programme with the government’s waste remediation efforts, saying nearly 60 per cent of Delhi’s legacy waste has been cleared over the past one-and-a-half years. According to him, reclaimed landfill sites are being converted into green spaces through plantation and ecological restoration.

Sirsa said the scientific remediation of legacy waste and the expansion of Delhi’s green cover are complementary initiatives aimed at improving the city’s environment. He added that reclaimed land from erstwhile garbage dumps would continue to be developed as green spaces as part of the government’s ecological restoration programme.