In an attempt to cover maximum area with the foliage in cohesive manner on Pahari temple, a massive plantation drive will be conducted during the Shravan Mela to increase the green lungs that are slowly shrinking. The officials are trying their best to achieve the target in a stipulated time by covering maximum portion of hills with saplings to covert it completely into green meadows.
The massive plantation drive which kicked off in the first week of July across the State is slowly gaining momentum. The Pahari temple situated in the heart of city is also covered in this ambitious project.
“We have given 500 saplings to the members of Pahari Samiti and local community. Both fruit bearing and other variety of trees have been made available to them for planting it on the hill. The purpose is both to beautify the temple and to control rapid soil erosion. Drive will continue during the Shravan Mela also. At present, the Department has covered the forest areas in phased manner which includes Bero, Burmu, Ormanjhi and Mandar. Non forest areas will be covered by July 20,” said Divisional Forest officer (DFO), Ranchi, Rajiv lochan Bakshi.
“In the State Capital, we have set the target of planting 8.5 lakh saplings. The department has successfully achieved the set goal and looking at the present status and to create awareness among the denizens regarding the plantation drive, the Department has increased the target to plant 10 lakhs saplings across the city. More varieties of plants at subsidized rate are available in plant nurseries now,” Bakshi added.
Similarly, Pahari Vikas Mandir Samiti Treasurer, Hari Jalan, said, “Especially during Shravan Mela, we conduct a massive plantation drive to mark the occasion every year. This year, under the ambitious ‘Jan Van Yojana’ scheme, we are getting assistance from the Forest Department and local NGOs to achieve the target of planting 1000 trees on the hill.”
Notably, the Forest Department launched a massive plantation drive to cover the barren hills across the state capital recently. The plan of forestation of barren hills was conceptualised in 2015 in addition to increase the green belts across the land of forest. Approximately 240 crores was approved for this ambitious plan.
A target of one crore saplings’ plantation has been set in as many as 400 sites in all the districts of the State. The officials have set September 2016 for completing the task of planting saplings on hills and will be supervised for five years under the management of forest Department staffs.
Turning barren hills into green pastures is one of the ambitious projects of the department to ensure green pockets all around.
The Department has planned to instill 1,666 timber trees in one hectare, and around 2,000 shrubs in a square kilometer area.