Latest news with #AravaliGreenWall
Hans India
5 days ago
- Politics
- Hans India
PM Modi launches ‘Aravali Green Wall' project by planting sapling under Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam initiative
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday launched the 'Aravali Green Wall' project, a special drive aimed at reforesting the Aravali range, one of the biggest forest covers, spanning four states -- Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi. To mark World Environment Day, he also planted a sapling at the Bhagwan Mahavir Vanasthali Park in the national capital under the 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam' initiative. He shared pictures of the special tree plantation drive and wrote, 'Today, on World Environment Day, we strengthened the Ek Ped Maa ke Naam initiative with a special tree plantation drive.' 'This is also a part of our effort to reforest the Aravalli range - the Aravalli Green Wall project,' he added. The Aravalli Green Wall Project is an ambitious project aimed at reforesting the 700 kilometres of the Aravalli range. The Aravali range, stretching across four states, has seen environmental degradation in the past few decades. The new push under the Aravalli Green Wall Project will create a green zone from Delhi to Gujarat, to act as a "natural barrier against desertification" and will also aid in groundwater recharge. 'Our focus is to rejuvenate areas linked with this range. We are going to work with the respective local administrations and going to emphasise things such as improving water systems, curbing dust storms, stopping eastward expansion of the Thar desert and more,' PM Modi further said. The project will go beyond conventional methods and encourage new techniques in urban as well as semi-urban areas to address space constraint problems. 'Plantation activities will be geo-tagged and monitored on the Meri LiFE portal. I call upon the youth of our nation to take part in this movement and add to our planet's green cover,' PM Modi said. As part of the major drive, one thousand permanent nurseries will be set up to revive the country's oldest mountain range. Technologies like satellite mapping will also be deployed to facilitate speed and transparency in the project. Notably, the Aravali range is home to 22 wildlife sanctuaries and four tiger reserves, namely Ranthambore, Sariska, Ramgarh-Vishdhari, and Mukunda Hills.
Time of India
6 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
In 1st phase of Aravali Green Wall project, Haryana to revive forest cover on 24.9k hectares
Gurgaon: Haryana will restore 24,990 hectares of degraded Aravali land in the first phase of the ambitious Green Wall project, which aims to develop a continuous line of forests from Porbandar in Gujarat to Rajghat in Delhi, spanning the length of the ancient hill ranges. The state's restoration plan will be carried out in recorded forest areas (RFA) of five districts – Gurgaon, Faridabad, Nuh, Rewari and Mahendergarh – over three years. Charkhi Dadri, the sixth Haryana district where the Aravalis lie, is not part of this phase because most of the forest is intact there. Haryana's principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF) Vineet Kumar Garg told TOI on Tuesday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi will officially launch the green wall project on June 5, which is observed as the world environment day. "We will start work in Haryana the same day," Garg said. Forest department officials said they used GIS (geographical information system) mapping to identify RFA – totaling 33,706 hectares – across the five districts. Of this, 24,990 hectares were found to be degraded. Over half of the degraded land has low tree cover, around a quarter that has no forest cover at all, and 15% of it is scrubland, they said. "Around 76% of this land has a deep soil profile, making it suitable for long-term ecological rehabilitation. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Trading CFD dengan Teknologi dan Kecepatan Lebih Baik IC Markets Mendaftar Undo Restoration will begin with soil and water conservation, followed by planting of 15-20 native species of vegetation per site, tailored to soil depth and local conditions," read a govt document titled 'Detailed Action plan Aravali Landscape Restoration (Aravali Green Wall)'. The Aravali Green Wall project, announced by the central govt in 2023, borrows its conception from Africa's Great Green Wall initiative, under which an 8,000km "wall" of forests was restored across the continent. Similarly, the idea is to revive 1.1 million hectares of the hills – the only barrier that blocks the expansion of Thar desert towards northwest India – by 2027. The range extends from Gujarat, crosses Rajasthan and Haryana, before levelling off in Delhi. Almost 40% of the Aravalis are in Haryana's six districts, making the state's role particularly crucial for the green wall project to succeed. The action plan also laid out district-wise targets for reviving Aravali land. The largest chunk of degraded forest to be restored is in Nuh (9,839 hectares), followed by Gurgaon (6,063.7 hectares), Faridabad (3,852.7 hectares), Rewari (3,087.9 hectares) and Mahendergarh (2,146.2 hectares). On the ground, work will involve plantation drives, development of check dams and percolation ponds, and restoration of grasslands, among other measures. On Tuesday, activists said the state must also ensure that the Aravalis are legally protected as forests. "What we need is strong legal cover to shield the Aravalis from the twin threats of illegal mining and rampant tree felling. Without it, this ancient range will continue to be chipped away — stone by stone, tree by tree," said Vivek Kamboj, an environmentalist.
