The Delhi Government will launch a mega plantation drive on the occasion of World Environment Day on June 5 to combat air pollution and bring down PM10 levels in the national Capital. For this purpose, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)-led Delhi Government has procured 33 lakh saplings of trees and shrubs for the city.
Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Wednesday said that the Government will plant a large number of shrubs by the sides of the Capital’s roads on World Environment Day.
Rai said that Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had promised before elections that two crore saplings would be planted in the next five years in the city. Following this promise, the Government’s target is to plant 33 lakh saplings this year, which is nearly twice the target set by the Central Government, he said.
The Minister further said, “Today, while coronavirus cases are rapidly falling in the Capital, the one way to achieve a permanent solution to the air pollution and to ensure pure and oxygen-laden air for the people is large-scale afforestation. The Government has decided to plant 33 lakh trees in Delhi in the next one year.”
“Every year, the Central Government sets an afforestation target for States. Last time, this target was set at 15 lakh plants in Delhi. We had surpassed the Central Government’s target and planted 32 lakh trees,” he added.
“People can get medicinal plants for free from Government-run nurseries which will help them increase their immunity, especially during the coronavirus pandemic,” he said.
Meanwhile, Delhi BJP spokesperson Praveen Shankar Kapoor has written to the Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal, urging him to direct the Environment and Forest Department to conduct a plantation audit during the mass plantation drive announced by the Environment Minister.
The BJP spokesperson said that Rai made a similar claim last year, saying that lakhs of medicinal plants were planted in Delhi but while travelling across the city you can find none except for peepal trees that grow naturally in the Capital.