As part of the ‘Vriksharopan Abhiyan’ (plantation drive) call given by the Coal Ministry to public sector coal companies in the country, Singareni Collieries Company Ltd (SCCL) launched the programme on Thursday by taking up plantation of 2 lakh saplings across 11 mining areas in the day.
Singareni has plans to plant 35.47 lakh saplings/seedlings this rainy season as part of the State government’s Haritha Haram programme and the Coal Ministry’s Vrikasharopan Abhiyan. Chairman and Managing Director of the company N. Sridhar launched the programme by planting a sapling on the premises of the company’s corporate office here.
According to company officials, they planned plantation of 35.47 lakh saplings on 804 hectares this rainy season, mainly in overburden dumps, closed mines dumped with over burden and other vacant areas. People of nearby villages were also being supplied 2.5 lakh fruit-bearing plant varieties this season.
The coal company had planted about 5.4 crore saplings, including about 4 crore, as part of Haritha Haram during the last five years on 12,172 hectares and the survival rate was about 75%, the officials said. As part of Haritha Haram, the company planted 40 lakh sapling in 2015, one crore each in 2016 and 2017, 90 lakh in 2018 and 65 lakh in 2019.