Delhi Environment Minister to review impact of tree transplantation policy

Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai has asked various departments to provide data on trees transplanted by them in the capital and their health status, officials said on Sunday.

Rai will chair a meeting on Monday where this data will be analysed to ascertain the impact of the 'Tree Transplantation Policy' notified by the government in December 2020.

"All agencies concerned, including the Delhi Jal Board, municipal corporations, Delhi Development Authority, Railways, Public Works Department etc, have been asked to provide data on trees transplanted by them. This is being done to ascertain the impact of the policy," an official said.

Rai will also take a call on appointing a common agency for all departments for a tree transplantation audit.

According to the 'Tree Transplantation Policy', agencies concerned are required to transplant a minimum of 80 percent of the trees affected by their development works.

The benchmark tree survival rate at the end of one year of tree transplantation is 80 percent.

Last year, the Dehradun-based Forest Research Institute (FRI) had conducted an audit of annual sapling plantations undertaken in Delhi from 2016 to 2019.

According to the audit report released earlier this month, 72 percent to 81 percent of the saplings planted in Delhi between 2016 and 2019 have survived.