Govt plans to replenish green cover, plant 100 million trees in state

Hindustan Times

a day ago

MUMBAI: After chopping nearly 500,000 trees for infra projects in the last year, the state government has decided to plant a hundred million trees this year under a campaign called 'Green Maharashtra, Prosperous Maharashtra'. The decision was taken at a meeting on Wednesday, and a target of another hundred million trees has been set for next year as well. CM Devendra Fadnavis said the campaign would succeed only if tree plantation became a public movement, and asked citizens to participate.
In the first term of the BJP government from 2014 to 2019, the then forest minister Sudhir Mungantiwar had announced a target of planting 330 million trees, a claim contested by the Congress. The Maha Vikas Aghadi government had announced a probe into this. But after it lost power in 2022, the probe panel gave a clean chit to Mungantiwar.
'To achieve the goal of 33% forest cover, the campaign must continue for the next 20 years in mission mode. In the past eight years, Maharashtra has planted a large number of trees, successfully meeting earlier targets of 330 million and 500 million saplings. Hence, this year's target is achievable,' said a press note issued by the government.
Claiming that Maharashtra was leading in increasing forest cover in the country, Fadnavis emphasised that tree plantation was essential for maintaining the environmental balance. 'Saplings that are at least 1.5 years old should be planted to ensure survival, and the survival rate should be increased by using artificial intelligence,' he said. 'Tools like remote sensing and satellite imagery should be used to ensure transparency.'
The forest department, in a presentation, said that as per national standards, at least 33% of total land needed to be under forest cover. India has 25.17% of forest land while Maharashtra has 21.25%. The department said there was much scope for plantation outside forest areas such as areas next to national highways and expressways.
Deputy CM Ajit Pawar said that indigenous and shade-giving trees needed to be planted along highways but potential road expansions in the future also needed to be considered. Fadnavis and Ajit Pawar launched a tree plantation and monitoring system developed by the PWD at the meeting.
The government has made it clear that several departments must allocate land and ensure quality saplings by developing nurseries. It has emphasised that tree species should be planted based on regional conditions and said that full use of the CAMPA (Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority) funds should be made available for this work.
The responsibility for planting trees along national and state highways as well as pilgrimage routes will now be with the forest department. With growing industrial development in Gadchiroli, plans are afoot to plant 10 million trees there next year. The forest department has been instructed to run special campaigns in Marathwada, especially in districts like Beed and Latur, where tree cover is very low.
A senior IAS officer said that it was the forest department's job anyway to arrange plantation drives. 'The department runs away from this responsibility and dumps it on various municipal corporations and councils,' he said.
Dr Yogesh Salphale, an environmentalist from Chandrapur, said that the target of 100 million trees was too large for the authorities to manage. 'Instead, they should preserve large trees which they chop, claiming they are in the way of infra projects,' he pointed out. Suresh Chopane, another environmentalist, said that plantation was more vital in cities, where trees are routinely chopped. 'Mumbai has become a heat trap,' he said. 'In the 1950s and 1960s, temperatures never exceeded 37 degrees centigrade. Now we have crossed 40 degrees centigrade. This is urban heat and more trees are definitely needed.'