In a bid to increase the green cover in Odisha, the state government is planning to plant 13.11 crore saplings over a total area of 1,30,624 hectares under a new initiative called ‘Sabuja Odisha’. The initiative was decided in a high-level meeting held under the Chairmanship of Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy on Monday, June 29.

According to an official statement, the Chief Secretary has emphasized upon more employment generation through the plantation and proper maintenance of seedlings. Tripathy has also directed to put a web-based system for real-time monitoring and supervision of the programme.

For successful implementation of the programme, district-level committees will be formed under the chairmanship of the collector, it added. Furthermore, the Divisional Forest Officer headquarters would work as Plantation Officer in the district.

‘1,30,264 hectares of land has been identified for plantation, which is almost two times more than the last year plantation within 68,358 hectares,’ Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (PCCF), Sandeep Tripathy said.

‘The people will be given the seedling of their choice at Rs. 1 per seedling. The plantation sites with geographic information system coordinates will be uploaded on the website for continuous monitoring through satellite applications,’ the PCCF added.

So far, the Forest and Environment Department has raised 13.11 Crore seedlings of different kinds like the medicinal plant, fruit-bearing species, timber species, multi-purpose plants, aesthetic and shade bearing species, and endangered species, through 5,222 nurseries. Around 1.30 lakh hectare of land has been identified in 2,660 locations for plantation. The department has also started the groundwork for raising 2 crore more seedlings.

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