Uttar Pradesh Govt To Plant 35 Crore Trees In July Drive, Targets 20% Green Cover By 2030

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government has finalized preparations for its annual monsoon plantation campaign, with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath directing officials to ensure 50 crore saplings are ready for the July 1-7 drive. The initiative aims to plant 35 crore trees this year as part of the state's 2030 target to achieve 20% green cover. During a high-level review meeting, the CM emphasized that all gram panchayats and urban bodies must create biodiversity registers documenting local flora and fauna, particularly heritage trees and endangered species.

A comprehensive River Rejuvenation Campaign will focus on plantation along both banks of major rivers including the Ganga, Yamuna and Ghaghara, with parallel planting along all expressways. The CM specifically addressed silt accumulation in border rivers, directing exploration of channelization solutions with technical support from institutions like IIM. For human-wildlife conflict mitigation, solar fencing will be installed in sensitive districts including Pilibhit, Lakhimpur Kheri and Bahraich, complemented by enhanced forest patrolling.

Community engagement forms a core component of the plan, with each village mandated to develop at least one 'Gram Van' (village forest) and conduct regular 'Green Chaupals' promoting sustainable practices. Over 25 lakh housing scheme beneficiaries will receive drumstick saplings as part of nutrition security measures. The forest department has been instructed to fill all vacant positions immediately, with policy bottlenecks to be reported directly to the CMO.

Infrastructure projects include finalizing the Kukrail Night Safari contractor within seven days and developing the proposed Forestry University as a research hub.

With Uttar Pradesh hosting 2,397 of India's 6,327 Gangetic dolphins, conservation efforts will be intensified. The CM stressed that environmental progress must be measured through tangible ground-level improvements rather than statistics alone, ordering three-tier monitoring of plantation drives and continuous air/water quality assessments.

Training institutes in six cities will be upgraded to support these initiatives, while the Pollution Control Board will implement green financing mechanisms to encourage ecological innovation.