The Delhi government has set a target to plant 35.38 lakh saplings in 2022-23.

In a high level joint meeting held with all the concerned departments regarding Tree Plantation Drive at the Delhi Secretariat, officers from all concerned departments, including the Forest Department, MCD, DDA, Railways, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, CPWD, DSIIDC, BSES, NDPL, and others, were present at the meeting.

Divulging details on the same, Environment Minister Gopal Rai, said, “The city government has set a goal of planting 35.38 lakh trees under the Mega Tree Plantation Drive for this financial year 2022-23 which will be completed by the green agencies of all the 19 concerned departments.”

He further added, “Under this campaign, about 29 lakh approx. saplings will be planted and around 7 lakh approx. saplings will be distributed free of cost. Various major tasks, such as soil preparation, excavating trenches, preparing saplings, soil fertilisation, and so on, will be done in the months of May and June. And the process of planting the saplings will begin from the month of July.”

Rai further said, “In the year 2013, the green area in Delhi was 20%, but thanks to the efforts of the Kejriwal Government, it has increased to 23.06 percent for the year 2021. In addition, Delhi has surpassed all other cities in the country in terms of per capita forest cover.”

Emphasising on the Mega Tree Plantation Drive, Environment Minister has urged all Delhi citizens to actively participate in this campaign. All RWAs, NGOs, and other similar organisations working in this field have also been appealed to participate in the Mega Tree Plantation Drive.

Keeping this in consideration, the Delhi government has issued a green helpline number, 1800118600, via which individuals and concerned RWA, NGOs can obtain complete information about the Mega Tree Plantation Drive.

“Under the Mega Tree Plantation Drive, all the concerned departments have been directed to conduct third party audits to check the survival rate of plants planted last year in Delhi. If a department has not yet had a third-party audit completed, orders have been issued to have it audited by the Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Combating Climate Change (MGICCC). In future also, this institute will perform further plantation-related third-party audits,” the Environment Minister informed.

Rai requested Delhi residents to get involved in improving the city’s green cover. He urged Delhi residents to plant trees on their special occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries.

This effort will not only expand Delhi’s green cover, but it will also lay out a plan to combat pollution in the future, added Rai.