The Jharkhand Assembly on Monday launched a plantation drive in its campus, moving a step further in becoming self-reliant by meeting its own expenses. Assembly Speaker, Rabindranath Mahto carried out the plantation drive on the Assembly premises, by planting fruits and flower bearing saplings.
On the launch day, the Speaker, along with Assembly staff and officials, planted 100 saplings of fruits and flower bearing plants. The Assembly secretariat has a plan to carry out a massive plantation drive on its premises spread over the area of 50 acres.
District Forest Officer (Social Forestry) MP Dev said, “The Assembly Secretariat has set a target to plant 650 fruits and flower bearing saplings within the premises. Another 15000 saplings of fruits and flower bearing plants will be planted outside the premises, starting with the planting of 3000 saplings in first phase.”
The Jharkhand Assembly located at Kute village of Dhurwa was gifted to the State in 2019. The Assembly premises have large open space with vast vacant land within the premises and outside the campus. In July this year Chief Minister Hemant Soren at the launch of Van Mahotsav function had floated the idea of planting fruits and flower bearing plants at Assembly premises. He had said that Jharkhand Assembly had a large open space and if in a planned way fruits and flower bearing saplings are planted then in next few years, the Assembly will become self-reliant by selling fruits and flowers produced from Assembly. The Chief Minister had stressed on the idea of planting more fruit bearing plants.
The Chief Minister had asked the State forest, environment and climate change department to carry out plantation drive on unused and vacant land at government premises. Soren had said that 1.5 crore saplings will be planted by the forest department this year. Five lakh saplings would be planted on various government land including one lakh in Ranchi alone.
At the same time he urged villagers to come forward to take advantage of various government schemes for afforestation including Mukhyamantri Van Jan Yojana under which 75 per cent subsidy is granted for tree plantation besides benefits under MGNREGA.
The Chief Minister’s observation assumes importance as in the last one decade, Ranchi had lost its vast greenery due to cutting of trees. As per a survey, Ranchi is one the state capitals having least green cover. Various government agencies had carried out plantation drive at different areas, but due poor upkeep of saplings, results had not been achieved.
The survey also pointed out that in Capital areas such as Main Road, Upper Bazar, Ratu Road have least green cover. Several pockets in these areas have no trees with these areas becoming concrete jungles.
The survey also suggested planting indigenous local plants such as mango, kathal, peepal, banyan rather than plants which are of European origin.
Meanwhile, the residents of the capital have welcomed the idea of the Chief Minister to carry out plantation drives on government premises.
Anil Sharma, a resident of Lalpur area said,"Two decades back Ranchi vast area had green cover, however in the past few years due to construction of high rise buildings most of the green cover has been destroyed. The government apart from carrying out plantation drive at government premises should also encourage citizens to plant more trees in their own premises."