UP govt to plant 4.39 crore saplings in coming months

To achieve a target of 33 per cent forest cover in the country as per the national policy, Uttar Pradesh government will plant 4.39 crore saplings on 67,600 hectare area in the next two months, a senior official has said.
"In UP, 9.01 per cent of the total area is under forest cover. According to national policy, a target of having 33 per cent forest area in the country is fixed. To reach this, state's forest department will be planting 4.39 crore saplings in 67600 hectare area in next two months," VN Garg, Principal Secretary Forest said.
Of the total 4.39 crore saplings to be planted, apart from the Forest department, 11 other departments including Housing, irrigation, PWD, Education, Industrial development would plant 1.17 crore saplings on July 7, July 22 and Aug 15 in the special programme of 'Van Mahotsav'.

As per the target fixed by the department, maximum number of saplings would be planted in five districts--Allahabad, Mirzapur, Sonbhadra, Lalitpur and Lakhimpur Kheri besides 1.53 lakh plants in Fischer forest area of Etawah, said Garg.
In 61 districts, 50 acres of land is available for plantation and directives have been issued to identify lands in others districts, he said.