VIJAYAWADA: Jana Sena Party MLC Konidela Nagababu formally assumed charge as Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Andhra Pradesh Society for Greening and Reforestation for Ecological Enrichment (AP Green) at Aranya Bhavan in Mangalagiri on Friday.
Speaking to the media after assuming charge, Nagababu said the objective was to increase the State’s combined forest and tree cover to 50 per cent of its geographical area by 2047, from the present forest cover of 22.96 per cent.
He thanked Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu and Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan for entrusting him with the responsibility.
He said environmental conservation should not remain merely a government programme but should become a people’s movement with the participation of farmers, voluntary organisations, industries, students, youth and citizens. The AP Green initiative would focus on increasing greenery in agricultural lands, villages, urban areas, roadsides, canal bunds, institutional premises, industrial areas and suitable wastelands, he said.
Nagababu stressed that planting saplings alone was not enough and that their survival and healthy growth were equally important. A dedicated monitoring mechanism would be established, he said.