State to plant 50 crore sapling over next three years

In a move aimed at increasing the green cover across the state, Maharashtra government has come up with a target of planting 50 crore saplings in next three years.

A government resolution on Monday stated that the plantation drive will be boosted in next three years (July 2019) to increase the green cover. "The state government during the monsoon of 2017 has planned to plant four crore saplings followed by 13 crore saplings during the monsoon season of 2018," mentions the resolution.

The government will plant 33 crore saplings during the rainy season of 2019, thus taking the total to 50 crore, it said.

As Maharashtra has some variations in terms of rainfall pattern during the monsoon the departments participating in the plantation drive will have flexibility as far as starting the initiative is concerned depending upon the local conditions and availability of saplings from nurseries.

The state government in last five years has taken up the sapling plantation drive aggressively. Monsoon of 2016 was the first year, when the government claimed to have planted around two crore saplings using advance technology to identify locations and frequent monitoring of the planted trees.

The drive saw participation of 21 state departments and now the government is planning to increase the participation by roping a total of 33 departments.