1 crore saplings to be planted in Varanasi division under mega drive this year

Varanasi: The four districts under Varanasi division—Varanasi, Ghazipur, Chandauli, and Jaunpur— are all set to plant 1.64 crore saplings during the statewide mega plantation drive commencing in July.

On Tuesday, a review of the upcoming plantation drive was conducted at the forest department headquarters in Varanasi division. Conservator of Forests, Varanasi Circle, Ravi Singh chaired the meeting, attended by district forest officers, deputy divisional forest officers, and regional forest officers from all districts, including Varanasi, Ghazipur, Chandauli, and Jaunpur.

Singh said that the chief secretary has set the plantation targets, allocating 280,000 saplings for Varanasi, 1,050,000 for Ghazipur, 1,455,400 for Jaunpur, and 3,640,600 for Chandauli. In response, site selection and pit digging were completed at 86 sites in Varanasi, 175 in Ghazipur, and 178 in Jaunpur. Additionally, 26 other departments were assigned plantation targets of 1,417,520 saplings in Varanasi, 3,064,100 in Ghazipur, and 3,742,580 in Jaunpur. Work plans for planting 514,567 saplings in Varanasi, 2,402,476 in Ghazipur, and 3,007,456 in Jaunpur were prepared by these departments and sent to the district forest officers. He said that the rural development department was given the largest target of 4,762,000 saplings, focusing on planting shade and fruit trees on vacant lands like ponds and pastures. The Panchayati Raj department has a target of 482,000 saplings, and the agriculture department has 952,000. They will distribute teak, rosewood, mango, mahua, neem, and drumstick saplings to beneficiary farmers and producer groups for free. The forest department is preparing to supply these saplings to the Panchayati Raj and agriculture departments free of cost.

According to him, the urban development, housing development, public works, and defence departments were assigned targets of 128,000, 13,000, 28,000, and 11,000 saplings, respectively, to plant shade and ornamental trees in urban areas, parks, and vacant spaces. The animal husbandry department has a target of 19,000 saplings, focusing on planting shade and fodder species in cow shelters. The education departments (secondary, basic, technical, and higher education) were allocated targets of 29,000, 48,000, 13,000, and 49,000 saplings, respectively, for planting shade and fruit trees in schools and colleges to strengthen the mid-day meal programme.

The horticulture department plans to plant 587,000 fruit saplings, emphasizing the famous Langra mango of Varanasi. They will provide free grafted fruit saplings to all departments in July. A team was formed to inspect prepared sites and pits, and their report was submitted. The Conservator of Forests instructed all district forest officers to ensure full participation from all 27 departments and engage farmers and producer groups in the upcoming plantation campaign. Geo-tagging of all plantation sites through the Haritima app was directed, and training programmes for all departments on using the app are expected to be organised.