GUWAHATI, May 8 – The State Forest Department has extended its afforestation drive for the city — Seuj Prakalpa — to cover the entire State. It will now encompass 23 other districts where a total of 23 lakh saplings will be planted. Started a year ago with the objective of bestowing a green cover on the city and mitigating its complex problems of flash floods and soil erosion, the project has so far planted six lakh saplings as against the target of ten lakh. Now, this too has been revised to 12 lakhs.
“We regard this as a good implementation rate, considering the constraints any first-time projects have and so decided to extend it to the entire State,” Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Sonadhar Doley told newsmen today. Seuj Prakalpa envisages active involvement of the people in this plantation drive at every stage of implementation - from planting the saplings to their maintenance and monitoring. The Forest Department will provide saplings to any interested persons, NGOs, gram panchayats, educational institutions, banks, corporate houses, police, Army, etc.
Meanwhile, five NGOs of the State have received Central grants under the National Afforestation Programme of the Ministry of Environment and Forests. Doley said the State Forest Department had recommended the names of nine NGOs for the purpose, which had actively participated and implemented plantation programmes. Meanwhile, the week-long Seuj Saptah (Green Week) celebrations by the Forest Department started today with a function at the Prasanna Bidyapith, Ulubari.