The Delhi Government on Sunday concluded the 17-day “Vrikshaaropan Pakhwada” campaign under the “Plant Saplings, Save Environment” plantation drive in which 8.5 lakh saplings were planted at various locations in the national Capital.

Environment Minister Gopal Rai said in the last 15 days, 8.5 lakh saplings have been planted in Delhi, out of which six lakh saplings were planted by the various departments and 2.5 lakh saplings were planted by the people under the campaign.

Rai said the drive witnessed a huge participation from the people. He also thanked the officials of horticulture and forest departments for participating and making the drive a success even in the time of corona.

“The Government started this drive by planting a banyan tree at the same place on July 10. Following that, we planted trees at various locations in Delhi. The plantation drive was carried out under the leadership of Chief Minister, Cabinet Ministers and various constituency MLAs,” he said.

“I am happy to inform you that even in the time of the Corona pandemic, the officials of the horticulture and forest department, Delhi Development Authority, Municipal Corporations of Delhi, Public Works Department and various other agencies have worked with such conviction to save the environment” Rai added.

Rai said, “I want to congratulate the departments that the plantation drive has completed over 7.5 hectares of land. This drive was not only about planting, but the department also took care of things such as which variety of plants should be planted in which soil, for better preservation of the trees and fertility of the land,” he said.

Explaining about the target, he said the Government aims to plant 31 lakh saplings this year, out of which 8.5 lakh have been planted during this drive. We have kept a target of 31 lakh saplings till March 31. If we have fulfilled the target of 8.5 lakh saplings in the time of corona, I am sure that we will be able to achieve our target of 31 lakh saplings by March 31, 2020, in the coming days, he said.

“The saplings that are planted this time will be audited by a third party agency. The preservation of the saplings has been a challenge that is why the Delhi government has decided that a third party audit of the saplings planted under the plantation drive will be conducted to assess the survival rate of the saplings,” he added.

Rai also announced that during the audit and analysis to be conducted at the final stage of this plantation drive, the best employees of each district will be honored with the title of “Pariyavaran Mitra”.