International Day of Forests: Delhi witnesses massive plantation drive

To mark the occasion of International Day of Forests, a plantation drive was launched by Lieutenant Governor of Delhi, V.K. Saxena and Union Minister for Environment, Forests & Climate Change, Bhupender Yadav, for the restoration of the Yamuna floodplains on an 11 km stretch between Bela Farms – Shastri Park – GarhiMandu, from GarhiMandu in North East Delhi. The event was attended by Area MP Manoj Tiwari and local MLA Ajay Mahawar, as well as approximately 10,000 children from schools, colleges, universities, and common residents of the city, who participated in the plantation program. 5,000 saplings were planted by the LG, the Union Environment Minister, and children.

The Eastern Bank of the Yamuna, which had become a dump yard of waste, will now have a triple grid plant cover consisting of riverine grasses in the first layer, immediately on the banks of the river, a second layer of bamboo trees, and the third layer of flowering trees. The neglected, barren, and depleted area will be adorned with more than 400,000 saplings of riverine grasses, 70,000 bamboo saplings, and 13,500 saplings of flowering plants such as Gulmohar, Takoma, Amaltas, Dhak, and Semal. This process will help restore the floodplains and rejuvenate the Yamuna through a sustainable and aesthetically appealing natural ecosystem.

Addressing the people present, the Lt. Governor said that following the National Green Tribunal order in January, work on the rejuvenation of the Yamuna was going on in Mission Mode and one could expect ‘good results’ very soon. Physical cleaning of the banks and floodplains was undertaken following an inspection by Lt. Governor VK Saxena on March 11, 2023.

The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has chalked out an extensive plantation exercise that involves a triple grid layered design wherein the first layer of the grid will have riverine grasses, the second layer will have bamboo plantations, and in the third layer, various flowering and fruit-bearing trees/plants will be planted. In the first phase, the plantation will be carried out over 4.50 lakh sq meters of land that includes bamboo plantation of over 2 lakh sq meters of land, riverine grasses over 70,000 sq meters, and flowering trees over 1.80 lakh sq meters of land.