Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Saturday led a massive plantation drive in the National Capital as part of the ambitious “Ek Ped Maa ke Naam” campaign that aims at increasing the green cover and enriching the ecology.

He planted a sapling in the honour of his mother Kesari Devi at the Asita, an ecological park developed by Delhi Development Authority (DDA) on the eastern floodplains of Yamuna opposite ITO in New Delhi.

Dhankhar planted a sapling of Tabebuia Rosea (commonly known as rosy trumpet tree), a flowering tree species, along the greenway of Asita. His wife Sudesh Dhankhar also planted a sapling in the honour of her mother Bhagvati Devi at Asita.

Delhi’s Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena and Chairperson of the National Green Tribunal (NGT), Justice Prakash Shrivastava also planted saplings in the honour of their mothers Vedwati Saxena and Kamla Srivastava, respectively, at the venue. The saplings planted at Asita included Jamun, Gular, Tabebuia, Arjun, Shisham, Guava, Largestroemia and Jacaranda.

Simultaneously, a total of 1,11,111 trees were planted on Saturday in various parks and green belts of Delhi by the DDA, other agencies, students, RWAs, common Delhi residents and officials.

Dhankhar interacted with over 250 school children, who had assembled at Asita for the plantation drive, and administered them a pledge that they would also urge their family members to plant trees for a greener and sustainable Delhi. The school children too planted saplings at Asita Park with great enthusiasm.

Speaking on the occasion, the Vice President appealed for making the “EkPedMaakeNaam” campaign a huge success and said tree plantation was the easiest, yet the most effective way of protecting our environment. He said as Chairman of the Rajya Sabha, he has also urged every Member of Parliament to plant at least 200 trees, as their contribution to protect the nature.

Notably, on the World Environment Day this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had launched the ‘EkPedMaaKeNaam’ Campaign, with an aim to increase the green cover and protect the environment.

The Vice-President, who also went for bird-watching and took a ride of the Asita Park along its wetlands and the grasslands, appreciated the DDA for painstakingly and scientifically restoring this stretch of the Yamuna floodplain into a bio-diversity park, which was just two years ago, lying as a polluted and degraded land under heavy encroachment.

During the nature walk, Dhankhar was explained at length the scientific process of ecological succession used by DDA for restoration of Yamuna Flood Plains at Asita and several other locations in Delhi.

Senior officers of Delhi Government and DDA, including Chief Secretary Naresh Kumar and DDA Vice Chairman Subhasish Panda also participated in the plantation drive at Asita, planting trees in their mothers’ name.

It may be noted that Asita has been developed as a bio-diversity park over 225 acres of land on the Yamuna Floodplains, which was, till May 2022, under massive encroachment by squatters and stray cattle that were polluting Yamuna severely.