Good news for Delhi: Capital to soon get 31L trees!
What's the story
In a bid to control the malice of air pollution in the national capital, various agencies of the Union and Delhi governments will plant 31L saplings of various native species from July 15. This is set to create a sort of boundary wall, which will also shield Delhi from the frequent dust storms coming from Rajasthan. Here's more about the ambitious project.
Details
Trees shortlisted after extensive study and scientific research
A senior Central Government official said the barrier would come up where Delhi shares borders with Haryana, Rajasthan and UP. After research, trees like "pilkhan, goolar, mango, mahua" were shortlisted, since they grow tall and have dense canopy. It'd prevent dust particles from rising above in the sky. Other trees like "peepul, neem, banyan, berry, amla, jamun," have been chosen for their oxygen-supplying ability.
Agencies
DDA will plant the maximum number of trees
Delhi government-controlled Forest Department officials said the scheme, already launched on July 7, will get over in two years. Among the agencies, DDA will plant the maximum number of trees, followed by the Forest Department (4.22 lakh), the three municipal corporations of Delhi (4 lakh), NDMC (3 lakh) and CPWD (35,000). The agencies are also to maintain the trees for two years.
Information
After two years, "survival audit" of trees to be conducted
After the maintenance, an independent agency will conduct a "survival audit" of the trees, so as to check out if they were really given proper nutrition. Dehradun-based Forest Research Institute has volunteered to conduct the audit from March 2019 for a year.
Scary
Did you know? Delhi has less than one tree per-person
In a recent study, Forest Survey of India (FSI) revealed that tree cover in Delhi has been steeply declining, so much so that it now has less than one tree per person. The drop in tree cover might explain why air pollution has been rising at a steady rate in the city. However, the forest-cover of Delhi has seen a marginal increase lately.
Recent events
With L-G's approval, plan to chop 3,000 trees canceled
Last week, LG Anil Baijal officially cancelled the previous decision to cut down almost 3,000 trees to make way for seven central-government colonies. Environment and Forests Minister Imran Hussain cited "violations" committed by NBCC, state-run realty firm, as the reason behind the revocation. The government colonies were to come up in Sarojini Nagar, Netaji Nagar, Nauroji Nagar, Kasturba Nagar, Thyagraj Nagar, Srinivaspuri and Mohammadpur.