Lucknow, 13 July: The state’s mega plantation drive of 25 crore saplings from July 5, and five crore in the next two days has met a key snag: their survival.
Due to the lack of rain, the forest department has directed all departments involved in the planting campaign to prepare for the watering of saplings to ensure their survival. The recent lack of rain and harsh weather conditions are not favorable for saplings.
“We have laborers and tankers on the way. The saplings that die will be replaced,” according to forest department sources, who also said that instructions for watering saplings have been sent to farmers who received free saplings to encourage agroforestry in the state.
Officials are waiting for the monsoon to replace saplings that have already wilted in certain areas that have not even gotten pre-monsoon rain and have extremely high temperatures and humidity. “Because it does not rain in every district at the same time, plantation should be designed according to local conditions to obtain a high success rate,” an officer who requested anonymity stated.
Thirty crore saplings have already been planted out of a total target of 35 crore for the year 2022, and guaranteeing their survival necessitates additional investment on their care and upkeep. The expense of replacing dead saplings will increase the overall cost of the plantation. However, the department currently does not have statistics on saplings have not survived.
Nationally, plantation begins with Van Mahotsav (first week of July). It marks the beginning of the state’s planting season, which will last through September 15. Planting should ideally be done according to local circumstances between July 1 and September 15. However, when it comes to planting millions of saplings in a single day, the forest department must organize ahead of time.
Plantation is one of the most publicized activities of the state government, which is dedicated to increasing the state’s green cover from 9.23 percent to 15 percent by 2030, a tall order.
