Citing a report from the Forest Research Institute (FRI), Environment Minister Gopal Rai said on Friday that 75 per cent to 80 per cent of the saplings planted in the national Capital between 2016-2019 have survived.
The Delhi Government has planted 32 lakh saplings and shrubs in the financial year 2021-22, which are more than the target of 31 lakh set by the Centre.
Rai said, “The Delhi administration has left no stone unturned in the fight against pollution in the city. Right from emergency measures to long-term solutions, the Government has used both approaches.”
“In 2016-17, we set a goal of planting 10 lakh saplings, but we ended up planting 24 lakh saplings to improve our green cover. We were assigned a target of 10 lakh saplings again in 2017-18, and we planted 19 lakh trees.
In 2018-19, we set a new goal of 10 lakh saplings, which we exceeded by planting 19 lakh saplings. In 2019-20, a target of 10 lakh saplings was set, and we planted 28 lakh trees within Delhi.
We planted 32 lakh seedlings in 2020-21, achieving the target of planting15 lakh plants. We set a goal of planting three million saplings in 2021-22, and as of today, we have planted more than 32 lakh saplings within Delhi,” he said.
Rai said that the Government has also decided to conduct soil testing before the annual plantation exercises to increase the sapling survival rate. Based on the third-party audit conducted by the FRI, it was earlier reported that the survival rate of saplings planted in Delhi between 2016-2019 was between 50 per cent and 75 per cent.
According to officials, a survival rate of 40-50 per cent is considered average, 50-70 per cent is good, 70-80 per cent is very good, and 80-90 per cent is considered excellent.
A sapling survival rate of 80.21 per cent was recorded in the North forest division between 2016 and 2019. It was recorded between 78.50 per cent and 75.68 per cent in the West division and between 72.60 per cent and 81.33 per cent in the South division during the same period.
The Forest Department and the Delhi Development Authority plant the maximum number of saplings and shrubs of the 18 greening agencies involved in the yearly plantation drives.