Question : Plantation of Saplings

(a) whether saplings planted every year in various parts of the country including Uttar Pradesh and Delhi are less than the target set by the Government;
(b) if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
(c) whether, in Delhi, Government departments/agencies except the Forest Department are not able to achieve the plantation target, if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
(d) whether forest cover in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh is less than what has been prescribed under the National Forest Policy;
(e) if so, the details thereof and corrective measures taken by the Government in this direction; and
(f) whether the Government is monitoring the life and health of the saplings till they mature into a tree, if so, the details thereof?

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE
(SHRI BABUL SUPRIYO)


(a) & (b) Afforestation / Tree plantation targets in the country under Item No.51 (a) (Area Covered under Public and Forest Lands) and 51 (b) (No. of Seedlings Planted) of Twenty Point Programme (TPP) is fixed by Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) annually in consultation with States/UTs including Government of NCT of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. These Plantation targets are further allotted to different departments and Greening Agencies by the states including Delhi and Uttar Pradesh. The progress of the same are collectively reported to this ministry and to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) which is compiling achievements collectively under TPP. As reported by MoSPI, the total achievements for number of seedlings planted are more than the targets fixed by the ministry under TPP. The achievement on number of seedlings planted under TPP during the years (2015-16 to 2017-18) by the states in total and specific to Delhi and Uttar Pradesh are provided in annexure.

(c) As informed by Govt. of NCT of Delhi, as against the target of plantations of 10.14 lakhs seedlings, the forest department and other greening agencies have carried out plantations of 24.59 lakhs seedlings.

(d) to (e)The National Forest Policy(NFP), 1988 envisages a target of one-third of total land area of the country under forest or tree cover for ensuring environmental stability. As per the India State of Forest Report (ISFR), 2017 the total forest and tree cover of Delhi, is 20.59% of state’s geographical area, which has shown a net increase of about 3.64 sq. km. as compared to the previous assessment in ISFR, 2015.Similarly the total forest and tree cover of Uttar Pradesh, as per ISFR, 2017 has been increased to 9.18% over the previous assessment of 8.93% in ISFR 2015, a net increase of 278 sq.km compared to previous assessment which can be attributed to plantation activities and conservation efforts.

(f) Tree plantation/ afforestation being the multi-departmental effort, being done by various departments, Non-Government Organizations, civil society, corporate bodies etc. The monitoring the health of the sapling planted is primarily the responsibility of respective State/Union Territory Governments. After plantations of seedlings maintenance work including watering, weeding and casualty replacement is done to ensure good health and survival of plants. Government of India supports themaintenance in respect of protection against fire etc. and monitoring of the health of the saplings planted the plantations carried out through Centrally Sponsored Schemes (CSS) as per the guidelines of the particular scheme.Protection of trees done against forest fires, encroachments and other treats.


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