Maha tree plantation drive exceeds four crore target

The Maharashtra forest department and other agencies have planted over 4.60 crore saplings across the state, exceeding the target of planting four crore trees till today, a senior official said.
As many as 4,61,06,563 saplings were planted in the non-forested areas across the state's 36 districts till 6 pm yesterday, against the target of four crore trees during the seven-day drive which began on July 1, additional principal chief conservator of forests (IT & Policy) Praveen Shrivastav told PTI yesterday.
With one more day to go for the drive today, the number of saplings planted will further increase, he said.

The mission of the plantation drive is digital forest governance to ensure transparency, credibility and accountability, he said.
Various online, offline and mobile applications were put in place for the procurement and keeping a record of the saplings.
"We intend to monitor the survival percentage of the plantations in next five years," Shrivastav said.
"We are following the philosophy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Digital India' initiative, and the entire credit of this huge plantation drive goes to state forest minister Sudhir Mungantiwar," he said.
The aim is to plant 50 crore trees in the state in three years, the official said.