Delhi government to appoint agency for tree census

The Delhi government will appoint an independent agency to conduct an "impartial" census of trees in the national capital to help it arrive at actual figures, an official statement said on Thursday.

"Environment and Forest Minister Imran Hussain on Thursday said a tree census would be conducted by a third party," the statement said.

The decision was taken at a meeting held to review a plantation drive carried out by civic agencies and government departments.

Earlier, Hussain's predecessor Asif Ahmed Khan, who was sacked by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on charge of demanding a bribe, had asked the civic agencies and Delhi Development Authority to conduct the exercise.

 

Hussain urged all the civic agencies to ascertain the actual green cover so as to help in better planning and management for further plantation.

In 2013, forest cover in Delhi was 20.8 percent of its total area.