Madhya Pradesh plants record 6.63 crore saplings in 12 hours

The Madhya Pradesh government today claimed a record 6.63 crore saplings were planted on the banks of river Narmada as part of its river conservation efforts.
The 12-hour plantation drive was undertaken yesterday across the state and may find a place in the Guinness World Records.
The current record of planting maximum saplings in least time - five crore in 24 hours - is held by Uttar Pradesh.
Over 6.63 crore saplings were planted in more than 1.17 lakh places spread in 24 districts from where the river transverse under a 12-hour-long drive, said a state Public Relations Department official.

He said the state forest department alone carried out more than 3.4 crore plantation under the drive.
Representatives of Guinness World Records were present at different spots to monitor the drive, the official added.
The massive exercise was carried out between 7 am and 7 pm after Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan launched it by performing a puja and planting saplings at Amarkantak, from where Narmada originates, in Anuppur district.
"The Uttar Pradesh government had created a world record by planting five crore saplings in 24 hours but in two days (12 hours per day) in July last year," MP's Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Animesh Shukla told PTI yesterday.