The Government which is taking up Haritha Haaram programme with the aim to plant 230 crore saplings by 2019 is oblivious to felling of big trees along State and National Highways. It was not doing enough for the protection and nurturing of planted saplings, said Opposition members in the Legislative Council here on Monday.
Participating in a short discussion on Haritha Haaram, Congress member Akula Lalitha said it was a good programme but with many flaws in implementation.
The data related to the number of saplings planted, protected and survived was being manipulated. Not even 50 per cent of saplings planted under the scheme survived in many areas and how did the government hope to increase forest cover from 24%t to 33%, she wondered.
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Opposition leaders Md Ali Shabbir and Ponguleti Sudhakar Reddy said the fact that even saplings planted by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao in Kamareddy Government College did not survive exposed the apathy of officials. There was no clarity on how many plants survived in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation and Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority areas as pollution levels were reaching hazardous levels in Hyderabad.
It was important to have contingency plans to protect plants during summer and a monitoring mechanism along with geo-tagging of plants. Sanction of development schemes should be linked to implementation of Haritha Haaram for better involvement of people and the administration, Mr. Sudhakar Reddy said.
Mr. N. Ramachandra Rao (BJP) said as over ₹2,000 crore had been spent so far on the programme, the government should share detailed reports.
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Focus should be on urban forestry as well as generating awareness among all sections of society and educational institutions.
Replying to the discussion, Forest and Environment Minister Jogu Ramanna said so far 81 crore saplings had been planted and survival rate was over 65%.