NEW DELHI: After failing to discard the tag of one of the world’s most populated cities, India’s national capital has yet again flunked with five departments of the Union and Delhi governments scoring a nought in the tree plantation target since 2010. What adds to the situation is the failure of 15 other departments to achieve the same target since last seven financial years.
In a reply to an RTI filed by The Sunday Standard, the government revealed that the Centre had appointed 20 Union and Delhi government departments as greening agencies, and had set a target of 50 lakh saplings to be planted in seven years. While five out of the 20 agencies failed to plant even a single sapling during the term, the others planted only 40,000 lakh. The five agencies are Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), Northern Railways (NR), Airport Authority of India (AAI), Delhi Cantonment Board (DCB), Indraprastha Power Generation (IPG). They were given a target to plant more than 30,000 saplings in 2016-17.
According to the data given by the Delhi government, DCB was supposed to plant around 1.65 lakh saplings in four years. AAI was to plant 3,000 saplings in 2016-17. Similarly, DMRC and IPG were to plant 5,000 saplings each in the year. NR was asked to plant 500 saplings every month.
The RTI reply further reveals that besides the 20 appointed greening agencies, the Environment and Forest, and Public Works Departments, entrusted with the responsibility to turn Delhi greener, has also remained unsuccessful in its tree plantation target for last five years. According to the Environment and Forest Department, a total of 13,18,119 trees were supposed to be planted this fiscal year. Earlier this year, the Delhi government had set a target of planting one million saplings across the city this year.
