The state government will go for a massive aforestation drive during the next monsoon setting a target to plant 22 crore saplings. This was announced by Forest and Environment Minister Dara Singh Chauhan in the Assembly on Wednesday. During the Question Hour, Chauhan said that the government had planted nine crore saplings last year, out of which around five per cent of the plants withered.
The minister pointed out that during 2017-18, the government planted 4.53 crore saplings whose expectancy rate was between 91 and 95 per cent. Chauhan also made it clear that not a single sapling was purchased from private agencies and all were grown in state-run nurseries. "This fiscal, the government has sanctioned Rs 100 crore from the contingency fund for development of more nurseries," he said.
Besides, the government has sanctioned Rs 282.86 crore for the plantation drive in 2017-18 and in 2018-19 (till January) the sanctioned money was Rs 219.14 crore.
Meanwhile, to another question, Chauhan admitted that out of the total e-waste of 25,586 metric tonnes, the government had disposed of 23,000 tonnes so far and the rest would be done within the next 45 days.
Replying to a question put by Ujjawal Raman Singh of the SP, the minister said that there were 39 units in the state to dispose of e-waste, of which eight units had a total capacity of 17,091 tonnes per year, while the rest two had a capacity of 10,000 tonne per year each.
Besides, Chauhan said that 13 units had a total capacity to dispose of 92,051.50 tonnes per year, while the remaining 16 units had a capacity of 99,425 tonnes per year.