BHUBANESWAR: The State Government has initiated a massive plantation drive in cyclone-affected districts to bring back the green cover which was destroyed by monstrous storm Fani.
Drawing up a five-year plan, the State Government on Friday decided to spend Rs 188 crore on plantation involving general public, village committees and voluntary organisations.
A massive tree-planting campaign will be taken up on a mission mode and 130.50 lakh trees planted in the current financial year. The decision was taken at a high-level meeting chaired by Chief Secretary AP Padhi.
While over 80.5 lakh trees will be planted by Forest department, 50 lakh saplings will be distributed for planting on the campuses of educational institutions, industrial areas and private land. “Around 104 lakh seedlings ready for plantation are now available in nurseries of 12 forest divisions of the State. The balance requirement will be procured from different sources,” said Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (PCCF) Sandeep Tripathy after the meeting.
It has been decided to plant one lakh big trees in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack and Puri by using modern technology. An action committee has been constituted under the chairmanship of Forest and Environment Secretary SC Mohapatra to decide the plan of action, Tripathy said.
An initiative to plant cyclone-resistant trees across the coast to create a green wall and reduce the effect of cyclonic winds in future was also discussed.
With Fani causing massive destruction to horticulture over an area of 24,780 hectares, the meeting decided to plant 18 lakh fruit-bearing trees. The plantation activities will be taken up by dovetailing funds available under MGNREGA.
Tripathy said efforts are on to replant partly uprooted trees by restoring them to their original position. Around 3,290 partly uprooted trees have been replanted in the City.
The replantation operation is still underway, he said. According to preliminary reports, around 22 lakh trees were uprooted by cyclone Fani and the loss on account of the damage to forest cover is estimated at Rs 537 crore.
Development Commissioner Asit Tripathy, Finance Secretary AK Meena, Agriculture Secretary Sourabh Garg, Panchayati Raj Secretary DK Singh and IDCO CMD SK Singh participated.