Assam Government Targets 3 Crore Tree Plantations in Amrit Brikshya Andolan Phase II, Announces CM Himanta Biswa Sarma

Guwahati: In the last three years, the state government has freed around 10,000 hectares of forest land from encroachment, along with a huge area of revenue land.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said this today while launching the portal for Amrit Brikshya Andolan Phase II. He set a target of 3 crore trees to be planted under phase II of the Amrit Brikshya Andolan. The trees would be planted between August 1 and 15, he said.

The CM said, “Last time, our target was to plant one crore trees, but we managed to plant a total of 1.12 crore trees. As of today, 90% of the trees planted are surviving. The main reasons for the trees surviving were that they were commercial in nature and were planted on private campuses, people’s land, and the premises of firms and organizations, so the people took care of them. Being commercial, the trees provided income, and the people were keen to take care of them. There were agaru, sal, chandan, and other valuable trees.”

“In phase I, our focus was on creating a world record, but this time it is purely for the purpose of planting trees. This time, we have also enlisted the assistance of the Army, Air Force, Assam Rifles, and other security agencies, apart from self-help groups, educational institutions, NGOs, farmer-producer organizations and others. We expect around 50 lakh individuals to join our efforts in Phase II. We have set up 4,000 distribution points so that people can pick up the tree saplings from the nearest point. Last time, we took the saplings from private parties, but this time around, the tree saplings will be totally supplied by the nurseries of the Forest Department,” he stated.

“We want to increase the forest coverage of the state from the present 36% to 38%. We have initiated the process, but it will take some time to increase the forest coverage. In the last few years, we have freed a total of around 10,000 hectares of forest land from encroachment, and huge plantation work is being done on these lands. We have also freed revenue land from encroachment, and we will set up solar plants on these lands. Similarly, we have reclaimed a huge portion of land from the Brahmaputra River, and we will also do tree plantations here. We have started a study with IIT Guwahati on how to increase the depth of the Brahmaputra while making it narrower, as it has become very wide in some stretches,” he stated.

Also Read: Assam Legislative Assembly Autumn Session Summoned for August 22, 2024

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