Ahmedabad has 1.2 per capita forest cover, Bangalore 7.2, Chennai 2.1, Hyderabad 8.2, Kolkata 0.1 and Mumbai 5.4, while Delhi is ahead with 9.6: Gopal Rai
Delhi has about three percent more green cover than the national standard parameter of 20%: Gopal Rai
According to the set standard, green cover should account for 20% of total urban area; however, Delhi has more green cover: Gopal Rai
Extend of forest cover in Delhi was 20% in 2013, which has risen to 23.06 percent in 2021: Gopal Rai
Forest Research Institute Dehradun submitted audit report of tree plantation in Delhi for the years 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19: Gopal Rai
According to the report, the survival rate of plants in the Delhi plantation drive has been 75 to 80 percent: Gopal Rai
Delhi had a goal of planting 31 lakh saplings in 2021-22, and more than 32 lakh saplings have been planted so far: Gopal Rai
Soil testing will be performed for next year’s plantation, and planting will take place accordingly: Gopal Rai
NEW DELHI:
The Kejriwal Government has left no stone unturned in its fight against pollution in the National Capital. Elaborating on the figures and results of Delhi’s proactive plantation drives in the past few years, Environment Minister Shri Gopal Rai stated – Delhi ranks first in the country in terms of per capita forest cover of cities. Ahmedabad has 1.2 per capita forest cover, Bangalore 7.2, Chennai 2.1, Hyderabad 8.2, Kolkata 0.1 and Mumbai 5.4, while Delhi is ahead with 9.6. Delhi has about three percent more green cover than the national standard parameter. According to the set standard, green cover should account for 20% of total urban area, compared to which Delhi has more green cover. The extent of forest cover in Delhi was 20% in 2013, which has risen to 23.06% in 2021. The Forest Research Institute Dehradun submitted an audit report of tree plantation in Delhi for the years 2016-17, 2017-18 and 2018-19. According to the report, the survival rate of plants in the Delhi plantation drive has been between 75 to 80 percent. Delhi had received a goal of planting 31 lakh saplings in 2021-22, and more than 32 lakh saplings have been planted so far. Soil testing will be performed for next year’s plantation, and planting will take place accordingly.
Environment Minister Shri Gopal Rai said, “The Delhi administration has left no stone unturned in the fight against pollution in the city, from emergency measures to long-term solutions, the government has used both sorts of work approaches. Whether it’s a campaign to combat pollution through an electric vehicle policy, a tree-planting policy, steps taken under the Winter Action Plan within Delhi, or the conversion of polluted-fuel industries to 100 percent gas within Delhi, or a campaign to combat pollution caused by generator sets by providing 24×7 electricity, the Aam Aadmi Party government in Delhi has been working under the leadership of Shri Arvind Kejriwal for the last two years. But one of the most important campaigns in that, the tree-planting campaign, was taken into the government’s hands to combat pollution, and for the past almost 5 years, through the large-scale tree-planting campaign, we have not only met the objective, but exceeded it. We were successful in meeting our goal. In 2016-17, we set a goal of planting 10 lakh saplings, but we ended up planting 24 lakh saplings to improve our green cover. We were assigned a target of ten lakh saplings again in 2017-18, and we planted nineteen lakh trees. In 2018-19, we set a new goal of 10 lakh saplings, which we exceeded by planting 19 lakh saplings. In 2019-20, a target of ten lakh saplings was set, and we planted 28 lakh trees within Delhi. We planted 32 lakh seedlings in 2020-21, achieving the 15 lakh aim. We set a goal of planting three million saplings in 2021-22, and as of today, we have planted more than 32 lakh saplings within Delhi.”
He further said, “The Forest Department has planted 6 lakh big and small plants during this year’s plantation. Similarly, the DDA, MCDs, Education Departments, DMRC, PWD, CPWD, NDMC, Delhi Jal Board, Railways, and DTC have all finished planting 20 lakh seedlings. In addition, the Forest Department distributed 4 lakh seedlings as part of a free distribution programme, the Park and Garden Society distributed 2.5 lakh saplings, and a total of roughly 6.5 lakh saplings were distributed over the course of a year. We have also exceeded the central government’s objective of 31 lakh saplings this year, and we hope that by the end of March, we will have completed the work necessary to meet this goal by planting one lakh more saplings.”
Shri Rai continued, “It has been said for several days that the audit report of the plants that have been planted should be present. We had handed the responsibility of determining the survival rate of the number of plants planted to the Forest Research Institute, a central government institution. There was a delay in the submission of this report due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, they had submitted the required report in January 2022. Our Forest Department had given the responsibility for auditing of tree plantation in the following years – 2016-17, 2017-18, and 2018-19. Now they have submitted the audit report of the total tree plantation by the Forest Department to the government. The report has been split into three parts, division wise. Under the North Division, which includes Shahdara, the survival rates are 80.21% according to the report. For the West Division, a survival rate of 78.5% was reported in the Alipur Range, and 75.68% in the Najafgarh Range. In the South Division in Mehrauli, it was reported as 72%, while phase 1 in Asola Bhatti reported 76%, and phase 2 reported 81.33%. So if we take all these figures into consideration and look at the average survival rate, we get around 75-80% survival rate of these tree plantations from the audited years. Today, we have issued an order to the Forest Department to send the data from the years after 2018-19 for auditing as well to the Forest Research Institute, Dehradun.”
The Environment Minister added, “The tree plantation which is taking place at the hands of the Forest Department, as well as other concerned departments, is displaying its results right in front of our eyes. Our green cover in Delhi has increased since these plantation drives were started. The Forest Survey of India, which maintains note of the green belt ratio requirements across India, has decided that 20% of the total area must be reserved for greenery. In accordance with that, Delhi’s total area is around 1,484 sq. kms., out of which the green cover has only grown since 2013. The data is reported every two years – In 2013 itself, Delhi’s green belt cover was 20% of its total area. In 2015, it increased to 20.21%; further grew to 20.59% in 2017, and in 2019, it was 21.88%. The report for 2021 which has been made public so far depicts the cover to be 23.06%, which shows that the green belt in Delhi has crossed the standard figures issued by the FSI. A few days ago, a report by the Forest Survey of India was published in the newspapers – which shows the standard for first cover per person in all major cities across the country including Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Chennai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Mumbai. According to this report, Delhi stands at number one out of all the listed cities, with its significant green cover per person reported as 9.6. The forest cover per person for Ahmedabad is 1.2; for Bengaluru, 7.2; Chennai has 2.1, Hyderabad has 8.2, Kolkata has 0.1, and Mumbai has 5.4. In this the highest forest cover is Delhi’s.”
Shri Rai concluded, “In Delhi, not just the state government but all other agencies like the DDA, MCD, Railway, DMRC, have collectively worked towards making Delhi greener, and bringing about this change through the mega plantation drive. The results are now in front of our eyes, as Delhi has fared at the top of the list and left all other cities behind when it comes to forest cover. The green cover that has been achieved in Delhi is around 3% more than the national standard. This year, we have achieved more than the central government’s target for plantation, and I am hopeful that all departments will complete the remaining target within the next 15-20 days. I appeal to the people of Delhi that our green cover is high, but due to Delhi’s geographical location, there is a pollution problem, particularly during the winter season. To avoid this crisis, we must increase our green cover even more. We have made another decision – we will now begin soil testing for the plantation drive that will take place next year, to determine the quality of the soil in which area and what types of plants can thrive in that soil. We would like to see the current plant survival rate increase further. The department has decided to test the soil quality and, as a result, promote plantations in that area.”