The Uttar Pradesh government is all set to launch a mega plantation drive from July 1 aiming to increase its green cover where 35 crore saplings will be planted across the state till August 15.

On August 15, to mark ‘Azadi ka Amrit Varsh’, 75 saplings will be planted in each village of the state.

“In the last few years, the state government has worked tirelessly to increase the green cover in Uttar Pradesh. There are a total of over 58,000 villages in Uttar Pradesh. The government plans to plant over 43.5 lakh saplings in a day on August 15,” said Manoj Singh, Additional Chief Secretary, department of environment, forest and climate change.

He further said that efforts are being made by the forest department to increase the green cover in the state which will help in pollution control.

According to the State of Forest Report 2021, 9.23 per cent of the total geographical area of Uttar Pradesh has forest cover.

In 2013, it was 8.82 per cent. There has been an increase of 91 square kms in the total forest cover and tree cover during 2019.

The government has now set a target of further enhancing this area to 15 per cent by 2030.

For this, the government will plant 175 crore saplings in the next five years and intensive plantation during the rainy season is being done.

As a result, 101.49 crore saplings have been planted with the efforts of the government between 2017-18 and 2021-2022.

Indigenous plants like Banyan, Peepal, Pakad, Neem, Bael, Amla, Mango, Jackfruit, and Drumstick will get preference during the drive.

The intention of the government is that the plantation during the rainy season should be according to the agro-climatic zone of the area concerned.

Nearly 27 departments, including the forest department, will work together to make the mission successful.

The target of each department is already set. In this respect, the highest target of 12.60 crore and 12.32 crore is for the Forest and Rural Development Department respectively.

Apart from this, the target of the Agriculture Department and Horticulture Department is 2.35 crore and 1.55 crore saplings respectively.

The official said that the environment fighters will play an important role in making this campaign a success.

Farmers and beneficiaries of Prime Minister’s award in the environment, empowered force, women, disabled, low-income group, visually impaired, MGNREGA job cardholders, self-help groups, village level and city development workers, forest workers, tribal-forest, Chief Minister Abhyudaya Yojana beneficiaries, teacher-students, and women will also be involved in the plantation process.