CM unveils ambitious greening plan

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, JULY 10. An ambitious programme for sowing seeds to raise 500 crore neem and tamarind trees this year is being planned by the State Government, the Chief Minister, Mr. Chandrababu Naidu, said here on Monday.

Mr. Naidu said 3,000 tonnes of seed was being supplied to the Forest Department for supply at the rate of one tonne to each of the 3,500 forest beats for sowing in the forest areas. He said the State would have 100 crore trees even if the survival rate was 20 per cent.

The Chief Minister was addressing a hurriedly-arranged function to mark the 51st Vanamahotsav celebrations at Attapur in Rajendranagar Municipality of Rangareddi district. He had launched the week-long programme earlier at Tirumala from where he instructed officials to arrange a function near Hyderabad to test their preparedness.

Its highlight was the illuminating speeches delivered by school children, some of whom were critical of the neglect of saplings after their plantation. After hearing nearly a dozen students whom he had invited to speak about the advantages of planting trees, Mr. Naidu remarked that the awareness level among them seemed higher than that among forest officials and politicians.

He called upon children to obstruct the felling of trees and even oppose attempts of their parents to cut down a tree in their backyard. He said officials had been given clear instructions to transplant trees and not to cut them down if they were coming in the way of road-widening.

Referring to the poor survival rate of saplings, he warned that he would not spare Forest Department officials if they did not safeguard the trees. He would make it mandatory for all Government departments and the urban development authorities to plant trees on their campuses.

Emphasising the role played by trees in maintaining ecological balance, he said it was unfortunate that the forest cover in Andhra Pradesh was only 23 per cent as against the recommended 33 per cent. Khammam and Adilabad districts, where the forest cover was above the State's average, had received good rain this year, he said.

Earlier, Mr. K. Harishwar Reddy, TDP MLA, criticised the Forest Department for the low survival rate (10 per cent) of saplings and advised it to plant two-year-old saplings to improve their survival rate to 50 per cent.

The HUDA Chairman, Mr. T. Krishna Reddy, claimed that 98 per cent of the one lakh saplings planted by the HUDA last year with Dutch aid had survived.

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Section  : Southern States
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