Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar on Sunday appealed to the people of the state to take ‘green pledge’ by planting at least one sapling during their lifetime to enhance the green area and maintain greenery around their surroundings.
The Chief Minister was addressing a gathering at state level Van Mahotsav held through video conferencing here.
On this occasion, the Chief Minister also launched a citizen-centric e-Paudhshala mobile application for free distribution of plants from government nurseries.
Khattar said that protecting the environment has always remained the utmost priority of his government and while realizing the importance of trees, several steps have been taken to make Haryana green.
“As monsoon season is the best time for plantation and like every year, this time we are celebrating the 72nd Van Mahotsav of the state. This year we have set a target of planting three crore saplings. I would urge each one of you to become a part of the State Government's plantation campaign to ensure the betterment of mother earth,” he said.
Khattar said that the forest area of Haryana should be 20 percent of the total geographical area. Being a plain and agricultural state, the notified forest area in Haryana is only 3.52 percent and the total tree covered area is 3.62 percent.
Thus, our total forest and tree covered area is around 7 percent. To increase it to 20 percent, it is very important to plant more and more trees. This is a collective responsibility and keeping this in mind, special schemes are being implemented by the Forest and Education Department in Haryana, he said.
About e-Paudhshala mobile application, the Chief Minister said that all the saplings to be distributed to the Panchayats under the Jal Shakti Abhiyan launched by the Prime Minister and the saplings to be distributed under Paudhgiri Yojana will be distributed through this mobile application.
“All citizens and government offices can get saplings from the nursery of the Forest Department by placing their demand through this app. The mobile application is available on both android and iPhone platforms” he said.
He also said that through this application, anyone can check the availability of plants of their choice in the nearest nursery and the app also has a navigation facility to reach the nursery.
Citizens can click pictures of plantations and share them with the Haryana Forest Department through this app. Through this app, the important role and contribution of citizens in making Haryana green will be acknowledged and recorded, he added.
The Chief Minister also released a booklet titled ‘Dharohar’ having detailed information about the activities undertaken by the Forest Department.
He further said that soon, another application for the Geotagging of the plants planted by the people of the state would be launched. The mobile application would help the Forest Department to take pictures of the planted saplings every six months.
Hry likely to make provision for giving atleast 10 additional marks to students for planting trees
Citing the example of the Philippines, where it is mandatory for every student to plant saplings in order to get their graduation degree, the Chief Minister said that in a bid to encourage students to plant trees in Haryana too, a possibility of making provision of granting at least 10 additional marks to XII students in final assessment is being explored by the Education Department so as to motivate students for planting more and more trees.
“Under the Paudhgiri Abhiyan, an incentive of Rs 50 is given every six months to the children studying from class VI to XII who take care of their planted plant for three years,” he said.
The Chief Minister said that various new schemes were started by Haryana including Oxyvan, Pranavayu Devta pension scheme, oxygen farming, Panchavati etc.
In the last one and a half years, COVID-19 pandemic has made the world aware about the importance of oxygen and this was when Haryana had taken an initiative of establishing Oxyvan in about 5 to 100 acres area at every district headquarter, he added.
Khattar said that the State Government also launched the Pranavayu Devta Pension Scheme to express gratitude towards trees that are above 75 years of age. Under this scheme, a pension of Rs 2500 per year has been made for the maintenance of trees above 75 years of age. It will be increased every year according to the old age samman pension, he said.
We have even started the construction of Panchavati Vatika in 134 pilgrimages located within 48 kos radius of Dharmakshetra-Kurukshetra, he said.
He also announced that 'Van Mitra Yojana' will be launched under which people would be encouraged to plant saplings and to take care of them as well.