Prepare plan for plantation drive in Karnal: DC to forest officials

Aimed at integrating environmental conservation with cultural values, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched “Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam” campaign on the occasion of the World Environment Day. In Haryana under the guidance of Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini, the state government is actively promoting environmental awareness through this campaign.

In this series, Karnal Deputy Commissioner (DC) Uttam Singh held a meeting with officials concerned at the Mini-Secretariat on Monday to expand this campaign more effectively across the district.

Before the meeting, Haryana Chief Secretary Anurag Rastogi addressed all district commissioners through video conference, directing them to implement and plan the campaign effectively.

The DC instructed officials to actively participate and contribute to the success of the campaign. To ensure significant participation from all sections of society in the district, he emphasised on the need for systematic planning.

“Under this campaign, our aim is to plant maximum number of plants,” said DC while directing officials.

He instructed heads of all departments to conduct plantation drives in and around their offices. He said plantation could be done in the areas such as near sewage treatment plants, water bodies and others. He urged that more plantation drives be carried out in the rural areas under the MGNREGA scheme. Singh directed officials to increase plantation under various government schemes such as the Jal Shakti Abhiyan, Swachh Bharat Mission, Smart City Mission and National Green Highway Mission.

The DC told officials from the forest and other departments to ensure active participation of the public in plantation drives. He said all plantation activities should be geo-tagged and uploaded on the “Meri LiFE” portal. Exhorting residents to become part of the campaign, the DC said the government was conducting mass plantation drives across the state at designated public spaces.

District Forest Officer (DFO) Pawan Kumar Sharma informed that the Forest Department had set up eight nurseries in the district from where the public could collect saplings free of cost.