Maharashtra target of planting 2 crore trees in state crossed

Maharashtra, which embarked on its ambitious 2 crore tree plantation mission in the city on Friday, not only reached its target by 5.28pm, but also ended up going way beyond it.

As per the plan, while the forest department was supposed to plant 1.5 crore trees of the total target of 2 crore, officials claimed that they have gone beyond it and planted over 3 crore saplings. It's also expected that remaining 50 lakh trees to be planted by other government departments along with members of the public as well as NGOs will also exceed the target.

While the plantation was going on at 65,674 sites, in Mumbai, it was kick-started at Maharashtra Nature Park (MNP) with the plantation of 3,800 trees on a five-hectare plot along the banks of Mithi river, attended by minister of environment, forest and climate change Prakash Javdekar, governor C Vidyasagar Rao, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis, forest minister Sudhir Mungantiwar and Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray.

Mungantiwar told the gathering that this was the beginning of the tree revolution in the state and they have already set a target for not only July 1, 2017, but also July 1, 2019, where they want to plant 25 crore trees across Maharashtra.

"We are not only focussing on planting the trees, but also on their survival and, hence, are sure that the percentage of survival of trees from the 2 crore planted will be extremely high and every tree planted will be marked on the GPS. We are not only looking at forestland, but have also signed an MoU with the railway ministry to carry out plantation on a vacant plot owned by the railways," he added.

Amid continuous rains in the morning, Fadnavis planted the jarul tree, flower (lagerstroemia speciosa) of which is the state flower of Maharashtra, while Rao planted a sapling of mango.

Javdekar called it one of the biggest tree plantation drives and said that if every state across the country takes up initiatives like these, then within just three years the target of planting 100 crore trees can be achieved. "We have funds of Rs42,000 crore under Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority and we are waiting for the Bill to be cleared, which will help this money to be released for such activities, giving impetus to this movement," he said.

Fadnavis lauded the forest department's efforts and said that he was glad this was not a "one-day event" but a long-term well-thought-out plan to ensure that the tree cover across the state rises considerably. "We are happy that we are trying to fight drought with the Jalyukta Shivar, and now, we will be able to fight deforestation with this new mission — Vrikshayukta Shivar," he said.

Tree plantation figures on July 1 across Maharashtra

8am: 4.26 lakh trees planted
11am: 40.21 lakh trees planted
12pm: 50.19 lakh trees planted
1.30pm: 73.23 lakh trees planted
3pm: 1.23 crore trees planted
5.28pm: 2 crore trees planted
6pm: 2.22 crore trees planted