PIONEER EDGE NEWS SERVICE/Dehradun
The Municipal Corporation of Dehradun (MCD) will launch a month-long plantation and sapling distribution campaign from July 16 to celebrate the Harela. The campaign, themed ‘Green Dehradun-Clean Dehradun’ will focus on increasing green cover, promoting nutrition and encouraging public participation in environmental conservation.
Under the MCD’s mission around four to five lakh saplings will be distributed door-to-door through Self-Help Groups (SHGs) in coordination with ward councillors across all 100 wards. MCD will also plant drumstick (Moringa) saplings in schools and Anganwadi centres under the same initiative to promote nutritional awareness.
The civic body will undertake a large-scale plantation drive at public places and identified green areas, where around 70,000 fruit-bearing, fodder and other species of saplings will be planted and distributed. To ensure long-term monitoring and maintenance, all planted trees will be GPS-mapped. The Dehradun municipal commissioner Alok Kumar Pandey has assigned officials specific responsibilities for carrying out plantation drives in parks and encroachment-free land. They will also organise a plantation programme on encroachment-free municipal land in coordination with the Garhwal Rifles which will be responsible for maintaining the planted trees.
MCD Horticulture experts will oversee the availability, quality and protection of saplings throughout the campaign.
The month-long campaign will begin on July 16 with door-to-door sapling distribution by SHG members, followed by plantation drives in schools, Anganwadi centres, municipal parks, RWA areas and public places. Special plantation drives on encroachment-free land will be held on July 22 in coordination with the Garhwal Rifles and on July 23 at various municipal sites. Identified locations include Tapovan (Aamwala), Sahastradhara, Mandakini Vihar, Nalapani riverbanks, Shishambara Plant and Dehrakhas.
