237.42 cr saplings planted across Telangana under Haritha Haram

TS surpasses plantation target by spending Rs 6,556 cr for the UN-recognised programme

Hyderabad: Surpassing the target of planting 230 crore saplings, more than 237.42 crore saplings were planted across the State under Telangana ku Haritha Haram programme since its launch in 2015. The State government has spent around Rs 6,556 crore for the programme which was recognised by the United Nations as the third largest effort for afforestation in the world.

Emphasising the need to fight global warming and climatic changes across the world, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao said Haritha Haram was meant to provide a liveable environment for the future generations. He said the State government took up a multi-pronged strategy for improving greenary in the State. Though the State has 66.25 lakh acres of forest lands as per the records, lot of these forests have vanished at the field level. Hence, the State government took up forest rejuvenation programme through plantation of saplings and also rejuvenate root stocks of felled trees using modern techniques.

Forest rejuvenation

Accordingly, the Forests Department has planted 20.64 crore saplings against target of 20 crore saplings and took up rejuvenation of about 80 crore felled trees where 42.42 crore trees have already started growing well. Extensive plantation has been taken up on all non-disputed forest areas, to rejuvenate the forests. “Outside the forest areas, we took up plantation of 130 crore saplings and planted more than 176.82 crore. In Hyderabad, we planted over 14.4 crore saplings against target of 10 crore saplings. Under social forestry and avenue plantation, we have set plantation of 120 crore saplings as target and planted 162.77 crore saplings beyond our targets,” he added. However, he stated that social forestry was not equal to 10-15 acres of dense forest as the latter would have an ecosystem, biodiversity and other benefits.

Setting an example

The Chief Minister said Telangana was setting an example for others by developing a nursery in every gram panchayat of the State. The government has developed Palle Prakruthi Vanams in over 19,742 habitations in around 13,657 acres of the State. The government is also developing Brihath Prakruthi Vanams in all 526 mandal headquarters and also urban parks spread over 75,740 acres in 109 locations of urban areas. “About 53 urban parks are ready. To ensure that Hyderabad continues to be India’s best loveable and liveable city. We are imposing huge fines if trees are felled without permissions,” he said. Further, measures have been taken for protection of 188 reserve forest blocks spread over 1.66 lakh acres around Hyderabad.

Of over 1 lakh km of roads under National Highway Authority of India, Roads and Buildings and Panchayat Raj departments in the State, around 82,491 km have been covered through avenue and multi-layer plantation under Haritha Haram.

Centre withholding CAMPA funds

Emphasising the need for the Centre’s decisive role in increasing green cover across the country, the Chief Minister stated that the Centre was not releasing over Rs 1,566 crore of Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA) funds due to the State. “The CAMPA funds are collected from the State as a deposit and must be returned to the States. I submitted over 100 petitions to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over delay in releasing Rs 4,675 crore pending with the Centre. So far, Rs 3,109 crore have been released to the State,” he said, adding that the Centre was taking a 10 per cent cut in the CAMPA funds without having any provision for the same.

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