The Barren Hills Afforestation (BHA) programme of the Forest Department is in full swing in Chittoor district, with trees to be planted in a targeted 30,000 hectares out of a total of 1.52 lakh hectares.
The social forestry division of Chittoor observed week-long World Environment Day celebrations, and reiterated the commitment to turn the barren hills into a green zone in a phased manner.
Divisional Forest Officer G. Srinivasulu inspected the red sanders plantation atop the Durgamma hillock at Puttur and planted saplings with spiritual value at the hillock temple.
The DFO said that in the 2020-21 financial year, the BHA drive would receive the maximum impetus in the district. He said that the red sanders species, which are predominantly present in the Seshachalam biosphere, would soon be dotting the barren hills of Puttur and Nagari areas.
The red sanders plantations would also come up at some of the select zones in the district, he said.
“To raise a red sanders tree is very difficult. But once the plant turns a year old, it will grow wonderfully, despite hard climatic conditions,” Mr. Srinivasulu said.
The DFO said that in the target area, as many as 400 saplings would be planted in each hectare as per the density factor.
“While hundreds of saplings have already survived on the barren hills, our earlier project of ‘Beautification of Hills’ is giving positive results in vast stretches. The flowering varieties planted a couple of years ago are now fully grown and ready to give the desired results,” he said.
The official said that a big achievement of the social forestry division in Chittoor this summer was that 90% of the plants on the barren hills were protected from the trouble of wild grass catching fire.
“The grass was removed close to all the plants on the slopes. Workers were deployed to water the plants on the hillocks in hot summer, while watchers were posted to prevent the grazing of cattle and sheep,” Mr Srinivasulu said.
