Delhi Environment Minister Shri Gopal Rai gave an account of the flourishing green cover in Delhi and shared the government’s plantation goal for the financial year 2024-2025. The environment minister on Tuesday stated that Delhi has the largest green cover across the nation. Under the leadership of Delhi Chief Minister Shri Arvind Kejriwal, the green cover in Delhi has increased from 20% in 2013 to 23.6% in 2021. The minister held a meeting with the representatives of 21 agencies to chart out the plantation action plan for 2024-25.
Shri Gopal Rai said that the Delhi government has been making sustained efforts to bring down the pollution levels in Delhi. These dedicated efforts of the Delhi government have resulted in positive outcomes, with significant decline in the pollution levels every year, on an average.
“The plantation drive in Delhi has been extremely helpful in achieving our goal of reducing the pollution levels in Delhi. We have been making conscious efforts by planting more trees to increase the green cover in Delhi. The green cover in Delhi registered a significant growth rate and rose from 20% in 2013 to 23.6% in 2021, solely because of the constant efforts of the government and support from various departments.”
Shri Gopal Rai added that the Chief Minister has fulfilled all the promises he made during the last elections. One of the 10 promises that the CM made was about the plantation of two crore saplings and trees in Delhi within the next five years. “We are happy to announce that we have been able to achieve that target within four years. We have already planted 2 crore and 5 lakh trees in Delhi in the last four years. Last year, we had announced 52 lakh trees will be planted in Delhi in 2023. We have not only achieved that, the NDMC has planted an additional 35 lakh shrubs throughout New Delhi,” he said.
The environment minister announced that the government has set another goal of planting 63 lakh plants in the upcoming fiscal year, 2024-2025, with the help of 21 departments of Delhi. This goal is in addition to our 5-year plan of planting 2 crore plants in Delhi. Different departments have been given their plantation targets for the next year.
“We have set different targets for these 21 departments working in Delhi. These targets are: The Forest Department will plant 20.06 lakh trees; DDA 10.03 lakh trees; MCD 6.19 lakh trees; NDMC 6.02 lakh trees; PWD 3.90 lakh trees; Education Department 3.24 lakh trees; Higher Education Department 1.18 lakh trees; NTPC 1.18 lakh trees; DSIIDC 70,900; Delhi Jal Board 37,500; BSES 35,400; CPWD 31,200; Railways 23,600; DUSIB 14,700; Delhi Cantonment 11,900; NDPL 11,800; NHAI 70,000; DMRC 3,000; Irrigation and Flood Control Department 40,000; Environment Department 1,700; and DTC will plant 1,500 trees. These 21 agencies will together help us in achieving the goal of planting 63 lakh trees in Delhi in the year 2024-2025.”
The environment minister added how these departments have also been directed to conduct audits through third-party surveys to examine the survival rate and the actual condition of the trees and saplings that have been planted in the last 4 years. Since the Model Code of Conduct for the upcoming Lok Sabha election is going to come into force soon, these departments have been instructed to prepare their reports to ensure that the plantation drive for the next year gets started as soon as the monsoon season arrives.
