VIJAYAWADA: Stating that the government has taken up tree plantation in the State on a mission mode to increase the green cover from 23 to 33 per cent, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has exhorted each and every citizen to actively participate in ‘Jagananna Pachhathoranam’.
Jagan launched ‘Jagananna Pachhathoranam (Vana Mahotsavam) at Mangalagiri on Thursday by planting peepal and neem saplings on the campus of All India Institute of Medi cal Sc iences (AIIMS). About 5 crore saplings are being planted across the State as part of the programme.
Saplings will also be planted on road medians and along 17,000 km of panchayat roads in the State as part of ‘Pachhathoranam’. Avenue plantation will also be taken up in a big way. On the occasion, Jagan administered a pledge to students and others to plant and protect saplings to improve the green cover in the State.
No trees will be allowed to cut, says Jagan
“Let us pledge today to contribute to the green development of the State, as the green cover is a way for the progress and understanding the importance of natural equilibrium, every drop of water will be conserved and put to effective use.
At the same time, no trees will be allowed to cut down. We will take up on ourselves the responsibility to transform Andhra Pradesh as a State of greenery,” he stated. Jagan said everyone needs to keep two aspects in mind about the importance of trees .
“First, oxygen is needed for any living organism in the world to survive except trees. In the daytime, trees consume CO2 to produce oxygen, which means more trees will fetch more pure O2. Hence, it is imperative to ensure more trees are there.
Another important aspect is the presence of trees helps ensure abundant rains as we have studied in our class X. When we all take these two important aspects into consideration, we will know, how precious trees are,” he said. Minister for Forest Balineni Srinivas Reddy, MLA Alla Ramakrishna Reddy, Forest Secretary Vijay Kumar and others also spoke.