Uttar Pradesh's Vriksharopan Janandolan 2023 sets green milestone with over 30 cr saplings planted in a day

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Uttar Pradesh achieved a new milestone by planting over 30 crore saplings during the annual plantation drive, Vriksharopan Janandolan 2023. The initiative was inaugurated by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who ceremoniously planted a Kalpvriksha at Vidur Kuti in Bijnor, hailing the event as a «plantation festival in the new Uttar Pradesh of New India.» With a single-day plantation of more than 30 crore saplings (30,21,51,570), the state expressed its profound gratitude towards nature.

This year's efforts surpassed the previous year's achievement of planting 25 crore saplings on the first day of the campaign. Notably, the CM also contributed by planting a peepal sapling at Shukratal in Muzaffarnagar and unveiled the new logo of the forest department while launching a book titled «van aadharit vyanjan.» Over the span of six years, from 2017-18 to 2022-23, the Yogi government's relentless efforts in successive plantation drives resulted in an astounding 136.9 crore saplings being planted.

Of these, the forest department accounted for 49.9 crore saplings, while other departments contributed 82 crore saplings to this green initiative. The positive impact of these endeavors is evident in the Forest Survey of India's (FSI) «State of the Forest» report, which highlights a significant increase in forest cover in UP by 417 sq km (0.18%) and tree cover by 377 sq km (0.16%).

The state's overall green cover now constitutes 9.23% of its geographical area, an impressive development owing to the massive plantation initiatives. Notably, the increase in green cover has led to a surge in the population of wildlife in the state.