Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Tuesday launched the ‘Mission 70 Lakh Plantation’ campaign in New Delhi and inaugurated and laid the foundation stones for various works of the Delhi government in the presence of Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav, Lieutenant Governor Taranjit Sandhu and Chief Minister Rekha Gupta.
Referring to Delhi’s Ridge area, Shah said it creates an illusion of a green Delhi when viewed from a distance, but is not ecologically healthy in its present form.
He added that in 1994, 7,784 hectares of the Ridge area were notified under the Indian Forest Act, but the final notification was not issued for the next 30 years.
Shah said the Delhi government has taken a positive step in this direction and declared 5,000 hectares of this area as forest land.
The Union Home Minister stated that the government will provide legal protection to the entire Ridge, giving a new form to its biodiversity, soil, water, and Delhi’s environment.
Within three years, trees that live for more than 100 years, such as peepal, banyan, neem, gular, arjun, and jamun, will be planted across the entire Ridge to turn it into the lungs of a green Delhi, he added.
Under the Grand Master Plan for developing Delhi, Shah also launched 300 electric buses, e-inaugurated three newly built bus depots and 40 vehicle testing centres, laid the foundation stone for a High Security Prison in Narela, and also launched a campaign to revive the Ridge area.
Shah said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, by launching the ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ campaign, has initiated a remarkable effort for environmental balance in the country.
He claimed that indiscriminate tree felling has created large holes in the ozone layer, causing an imbalance in the earth’s temperature. He added that reducing emissions of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide was the only way to address the problem.