A total of 50,000 trees and 5,50,000 shrubs have been planted at various locations across the national capital this year to date, according to the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) on Saturday.
As per a senior DDA official, seized of its responsibility towards greening Delhi and maintaining a sustainable habitat, the authority has been consistently undertaking plantation drives under the directions of Lieutenant Governor (LG) Vinai Kumar Saxena and direct supervision of Vice Chairman, Subhashish Panda.
Informing about the trees planted by the DDA, he said, “During FY 2024-25, till now 50,000 trees and 5,50,000 shrubs have already been planted at various locations across Delhi. The authority is also taking all possible steps to ensure that the saplings being planted are nurtured sufficiently, so as to achieve optimal survival.”
Also read: Delhi Weather: Rain likely in city; maximum to settle around 36 degrees Celsius
“As per its regular practice of greening Delhi, DDA is conducting plantation drives and awareness camps with the advent of the monsoons across the city in its parks/ greens spaces and civic areas with the support of local residents, school children, public representatives etc”, he said.
Plantation drives have been conducted by the DDA on Saturday including Dwarka in DDAs Sector 19B housing development. “Plantation drives in District Park and Lake, G17, Paschim Vihar were also undertaken recently. It has also organised ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ campaign at District Park Vikaspuri as part of the plantation programme. A similar program was also organized at DDA’s Jahanpanah City Forest, with the help of school students recently”, he said.
“A tree plantation drive was also organized at Kalindi Aviral Extn., marking a major step towards restoring the Yamuna Floodplains and District Park Sheesh Mahal Shalimar Bagh. Besides, a plantation drive was organized in Park No. 2 at Sector-6, Dwarka and a programme was also conducted at the Green Belt near Shahpur village, Narela”, senior DDA official said.
DDA maintains approximately 733 parks, 7 biodiversity parks, the Yamuna Floodplains and roadside greens, thereby playing a crucial role in keeping the national capital green.
Also read: Dengue Outbreak: 196 dengue cases reported in Delhi
Every year during the monsoon season, the DDA organizes a plantation program, planting native trees and shrubs on a large scale to preserve and expand the city’s green areas.
“For the financial year 2024-25, the DDA has set a plantation target of 11 lakh plants, including about 94000 trees and 10 lakh shrubs. DDA has already achieved nearly 55% of this target, having planted approximately 605109 trees and shrubs so far”, he informed.
“About 21,552 acres of Delhi are under green cover out of which 10,490 acre belongs to DDA. In the year 2023-24, DDA has planted more than 8.8 lakh trees and shrubs”, senior DDA official added.