Green cover in Delhi to be increased to 25% in coming years, says CM Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal expressed his vision of transforming the national capital into the greenest and cleanest city in the world by increasing the city’s green cover from the current 23 percent to 25 percent in the coming years.

He made this announcement at a Van Mahotsav event, where Lieutenant Governor V K Saxena was the chief guest. This year, the city plans to plant over 1 crore saplings, with 27.5 lakh saplings already planted.

Both Kejriwal and Saxena emphasised the need to implement the chief minister’s proposal and enhance the green cover to 25 percent within the next two years. The event showcased a friendly atmosphere between the two leaders, who had previously been at odds over governance-related issues in Delhi.

Delhi’s current green cover at 23 percent is higher than cities like Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, London, and New York, according to Kejriwal. However, he stressed that the city should not rest on its laurels and must strive to increase the green cover further, aiming for 27 percent in the future. Kejriwal warned that if complacency sets in, the green cover might decline to 21 percent and even further to 19 percent.

Despite the rapid expansion of Delhi, its green cover has shown positive growth, which is a cause for celebration and motivation, as cities around the world have often seen their green spaces diminish due to urbanisation. Kejriwal also highlighted that Delhi’s air quality has improved since 2015, resulting in 30 percent less pollution and an increase in the number of “clean air days” to 163 in the current year.

In a previous year’s Van Mahotsav event at Asola Bhati Mines wildlife sanctuary, there was controversy surrounding a poster of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but this year’s event proceeded without such issues.

The Chief Minister urged the people to actively participate in the endeavor to make Delhi the greenest and cleanest city on the planet. The event concluded with the plantation of 5.5 lakh saplings in the sanctuary. (With inputs from PTI)