State-level function marks the celebration of 72nd Van Mahotsav in Haryana

Chandigarh : While stressing upon the importance of trees, Haryana Chief Minister, Sh. Manohar Lal on the occasion of 72nd Van Mahotsav organized by Forest Department has once again appealed to the people of the State to take Green ‘Pledge’ by planting atleast one tree during their lifetime to enhance the green area and maintain greenery around their surroundings.While addressing the gathering at state level Van Mahotsav held through video conferencing here today, Sh. Manohar Lal said that protecting the environment has always remained the utmost priority of his government and while realizing the importance of trees, several steps have been taken to make Haryana green.“As monsoon season is the best time for plantation and like every year, this time we are celebrating 72nd Van Mahotsav of the state. This year we have set a target of planting 3 crore saplings. I would urge each one of you to become a part of the state government’s plantation campaign to ensure the betterment of Mother Earth’s heath”, said Sh. Manohar Lal.Cooperation Minister, Dr. Banwari Lal also attended the function from Chandigarh, while Forest Minister, Sh. Kanwar Pal attended the function from Jagadhri along with other political and administrative dignitaries from their respective districts through video conferencing. Besides this, several children also listened to Chief Minister’s address through the edu-sat application.“Even in in Matsya-purana it has been said “Dasha-kupa-sama vapi- dasha-vapi-samo hradah, dasha-hrada-samah putro, dasha-putra-samo drumah”, meaning that ‘A pond equals ten wells, a reservoir equals ten ponds. A son equals ten reservoirs, and a tree equals ten sons,” shared Sh. Manohar Lal while highlighting the importance of trees.The Chief Minister said that the forest area of Haryana state should be 20 percent of the total geographical area because Haryana is a plain state. Being a plain and agricultural state, the notified forest area in Haryana is only 3.52 percent and the total tree covered area is 3.62 percent.”Thus our total forest and tree covered area is around 7 percent. To increase it to 20 percent, it is very important to plant more and more trees. This is a collective responsibility and keeping this in mind, special schemes are being implemented by Forest and Education Department in Haryana said Sh. Manohar Lal.
e-Paudhshala Mobile app launched
On this occasion, the Chief Minister also launched citizen-centric e-Paudhshala mobile application for free distribution of plants from government nurseries.The Chief Minister said that all the saplings to be distributed to the Panchayats under the Jal Shakti Abhiyan launched by the Prime Minister and the saplings to be distributed under our Paudhgiri Yojana will be distributed through this mobile application.“All citizens and government offices can get saplings from the nursery of the forest department by placing their demand through this app. The mobile application is available on both android and iPhone platforms” said Sh. Manohar Lal.He said that through this application anyone can check the availability of plants of their choice in the nearest nursery and the app also has a navigation facility to reach the nursery.Citizens can click pictures of plantations and share them with the Haryana Forest Department through this app. Through this app, the important role and contribution of citizens in making Haryana green will be acknowledged and recorded,” said Chief Minister.
Booklet carrying information about forest and forestry in Haryana released
The Chief Minister also released a booklet title ‘Dharohar’ having detailed information about the activities undertaken by Forest Department. This document will be of great help to policymakers, forest managers, academicians and citizens at large for natural resource management and planning in Haryana.
App to Geo tag plants to be launched soon
The Chief Minister said that soon another application for the Geotagging of the plants planted by the people of the the state would be launched. The mobile application would help the forest department to take pictures of the planted trees in every six months so as to ensure their health and safety.
Provision for giving atleast 10 additional marks to students for planting trees likely to be made
Citing the example of the Philippines, where it is mandatory for every student to plant trees in order to get their graduation degree, the Chief Minister said that in a bid to encourage students to plant trees in Haryana too, a possibility of making provision of granting atleast 10 additional marks to XII students in final assessment is being explored by the education department so as to motivate students for planting more and more trees.“Under the Paudhgiri Abhiyan, an incentive of Rs 50 is given every six months to the children studying from class VI to XII who take care of their planted plant for three years,” said Sh. Manohar Lal.
Several initiatives are taken by Haryana for environment protection
The Chief Minister informed that highlighting the importance of trees, on the occasion of World Environment Day this year, various new schemes were started by Haryana including Oxyvan, Pranavayu Devta pension scheme, oxygen farming, Panchavati etc.“In last one and a half years, COVID-19 Pandemic has made the world aware about the importance of oxygen and this was when Haryana had taken an initiative of establishing Oxyvan in about 5 to 100 acres area at every district headquarter. Even the common man also understood the importance of oxygen we get from trees and ensured their participation in the plantation campaign.The Chief Minister said that the State Government launched the Pranavayu Devta Pension Scheme to express gratitude towards trees that are above 75 years of age. Under this scheme, a pension of Rs 2500 per year has been made for the maintenance of trees above 75 years of age. It will be increased every year according to old age samman pension.“We have even started the construction of Panchavati Vatika in 134 pilgrimages located within 48 kos radius of Dharmakshetra-Kurukshetra,” said Sh. Manohar Lal.
Van Mitra Yojana
The Chief Minister said that along with ensuring all-round development, it becomes our pivotal responsibility to protect mother nature as well and for this, the State Government is all set to launch a unique ‘Van Mitra Yojana’ under which people would be encouraged to plant new trees and to take care of them as well. Successful implementation of this scheme will result in a rapid increase in forest area in Haryana said Sh. Manohar Lal.
Mera Pani Meri Virasat scheme launched to save every drop of water for future generations
The Chief Minister said that along with ensuring environmental balance,it is equally important to save water, hence ‘Mera Pani Meri Virasat scheme’ aimed to save every drop of water for future generations has already been launched.“If awareness about water conservation is not taken seriously today, then the situation can become grim in the future. Last year, crops consuming less water were cultivated instead of paddy in 1 lakh acres of state land but this year a target of 2 lakh acres has been set,” said Sh. Manohar Lal.On this occasion, Additional Principal Secretary to Chief Minister and Director General, Information Public Relations and Languages Department, Dr. Amit Agrawal and other senior officers of Forest department also remained present.