Shrubs will be planted along the roads to reduce dust pollution, said the minister. (File)
New Delhi:
Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai said Thursday the city government will launch a 17-day planting campaign starting July 10 to reduce pollution in the nation’s capital.
Thirty-one lakh plants, trees and shrubs will be planted as part of the “Plant Trees, Save the Environment” campaign, which will be launched from National Highway 20 near ITO.
The planting campaign is expected to increase the city’s green cover from the current 325 square kilometers to 350 square kilometers by 2021, which will help reduce air pollution, said Rai at a conference. virtual press.
Shrubs will be planted along the roads to reduce dust pollution, said the minister.
“The Center has set a goal of planting 15 lakh of plants, trees and shrubs in Delhi. Our goal is more than double that,” he said.
Up to 29.37 lakh of plants, trees and shrubs were planted in Delhi in 2019 against the target of 24.18 lakh.
In the “guarantee card” published before the assembly elections, the PAA government had promised to plant 2 crores of plants, trees and shrubs in the city over the next five years.
Rai said that Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia will participate in the ITO nursery campaign on July 13.
Ministers Kailash Gehlot, Rajendra Pal Gautam, Imran Hussain and Satyendar Jain and Assembly Speaker Ram Niwas Goel will also participate on July 15, July 17, July 20, July 22 and July 24, respectively.
The 70 Delhi deputies will complete the planting campaign in their regions on July 26, the minister said.
Rai said the government will get an audit by the Forest Research Institute, Dehradun, to determine the survival rate of the plants.
The Delhi Forest Department previously obtained an audit by the Agricultural Finance Corporation for the planting campaign carried out between 2013 and 2015.
The FRI audit will be for 2016, 2017 and 2018, depending on the department.
This will help determine which varieties of plants, trees and shrubs have the best survival rate in Delhi and which areas of the city are best suited for their growth, he said.
The audit, which is expected to start in October, will take approximately four months. The report is expected in February next year.
(This story has not been edited by GalacticGaming staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
