Uttar Pradesh set to create green record today, plant 22-cr saplings

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To mark the 77th anniversary of Quit India movement, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath is launching ‘Vriksharopan Mahakumbh’ — a mega greenery drive aimed at planting a record 22 crore saplings in the state on Friday.

The chief minister will launch the drive by planting Harishankari, a combination of three sacred trees — peepul, pakar and banyan — at Jaitikheda area in Lucknow.

Later in the day, he will attend an event in Prayagraj, where a record 33,000 saplings will be distributed.

The distribution of saplings on such a large scale in one go will lead to a new Guinness Book of Records, claimed forest minister Dara Singh Chauhan in Lucknow on Thursday.

The current record of planting 30,000 saplings was created by Savitribai Phule Pune University of Maharashtra in June this year.

“We will break the Maharashtra’s record and set a new one on Friday,” said Chauhan

“CM will lead the distribution of saplings on the occasion,” said forest minister Dara Singh Chauhan at a press conference on Thursday.

Governor Anandiben Patel will also participate in the drive and plant saplings at the Ganga forest in Kasganj.

To ensure proper monitoring of the growth of trees, majority of saplings planted at the village panchayat level will also be ‘geotagged’, said the minister, adding the state government has also appointed “tree guardians” to nurture the plants and monitor their growth.

By planting 22 crore saplings, the government is set to break its own earlier record of planting five crore saplings in 24 hours in 2016, said Chauhan, adding the government has prepared a micro plan for each gram panchayat to help farmers get saplings and plant them.

The government has also roped in farmers registered under the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, Swachh Bharat Mission, Pradhan Mantri Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana and beneficiaries of various other schemes ion its greenery drive.

The saplings chosen for plantation are those of teak, drumstick, eucalyptus (gum trees), mango, mahua, berries, guava besides hundreds of other species, which would be distributed free of cost among people.

“Around 45,650 students from class 8 to 12 will participate in the mega sapling distribution exercise for which 20 counters have been set up. Of them, two counters each have been reserved for women and public while the remaining 16 will be dedicated to sapling distribution to students,” said Prayagraj district magistrate Bhanu Chandra Goswami.

At the time of registration, every student would be given a token carrying the QR code which at the time of receiving the sapling would be scanned.

This will help keep an account of number of saplings distributed, said divisional forest officer, Prayagraj division, YP Shukla.

On Thursday afternoon, Prayagraj’s divisional commissioner Ashish Goel and district magistrate Bhanu Chand Goswami reviewed the preparations for the record setting event.