Telangana will soon achieve 33 percent green coverage area: Forest Minister

Forest Minister A Indrakaran Reddy on Friday said the State government has taken up plantation programmes in a large scale for revival for forest area

Yadadri-Bhongir: Forest Minister A Indrakaran Reddy on Friday said the State government has taken up plantation programmes in a large scale for revival for forest area and increase green coverage area to 33 percent.

Inaugurating the District Forest office, which was constructed in two acres with Rs 3.5 crore, he said Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao has working with the mission of increasing the green coverage area to 33 percent in the State and had launched the Telangana Ku Haritha Haram programme as part of it. Plantation programmes was taken up in areas where the forest cover was depleted.

---

Reminding that the forest area was very less in the erstwhile Nalgonda district, he instructed officials to lay special focus to increase the forest area in Nalgonda, Suryapet and Yadadri-Bhongir districts. The green coverage area had so far increased from 20 percent to 24 percent due to the initiatives of the State government. He exuded confidence that the green coverage area would be increased to 33 percent in the coming years. Ample green coverage area would ensure ecological balance and also lead to good rainfall.

A tractor and water tanker was provided to each village to the purpose of sanitation and watering of the planted saplings. In all, 15,000 nurseries have developed in the State for supply of saplings for plantation programmes. Under Telangana Ku Haritha Haram, 249 crore saplings were planted, 80 percent of which had survived. He appreciated the role of officials and elected representatives in making a success the programmes taken up by the government to improve sanitation and facilities in the villages.

Energy Minister G Jagadish Reddy, Government Whip Gongidi Sunitha, Zilla Parishad Chairman Alimineti Sandeep Reddy, Rajya Sabha member Badugula Lingaiah Yadav, principal secretary of forest Shanthi Kumary and district Collector Pamela Sathpathy were also present.