Two months on, ‘Greening Punjab’ campaign yet to take off

Tuesday, 28/08/2012

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Chandigarh: Even two months after the scheme was launched with much fanfare, the ‘Greening Punjab’ campaign has not yet taken off. Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had kicked-off his dream project, which envisaged to spread the forest cover in the state with the plantation of 40 crore saplings in the next eight years.

Chief Minister Badal had announced a ‘dedicated’ fund and had even assured ‘no paucity’ of money to carry out the mission, Finance Department is yet to facilitate the massive plantation drive by releasing the funds. Forests Department had begun the ground work for undertaking the campaign with right earnest immediately after Badal launched the project in Fazilka but in the absence of funds, thousands of labourers engaged across the state for this purpose still await payments, leading to a sense of unrest among them.

With the monsoon season close to ending, the plantation target of this year is not likely to be met, pushing the drive one year behind the schedule. Forests Minister Surjit Kumar Jayani, however, is quite optimistic as he said “Chief Minister has assured me to provide Rs 20 crore forthwith but due to his going abroad, the funds have got delayed.” “With the Chief Minister around, I am hopeful to get the funds shortly,” Jayani told Daily Post, while revealing to take up the matter at the Cabinet meeting expected to be held this week.

As per official estimates, for plantation of 5 crore saplings every year, a sum of Rs 250 crore would be required to achieve the target. Launching the mission, the Chief Minister had reiterated the commitment of the SAD-BJP alliance government to make Punjab clean, green and pollution-free. Exhorting the people to join hands with the government for wiping out air and water pollution from the state through massive plantation drive, Badal had stated that a comprehensive plantation drive in the state was the need of the hour as only then one could check the environmental degrading taking place in the state due to the pollution. He had said that though the government had made all out efforts to check the rising environmental pollution in the state, the desired result of all the endeavours of the government could be obtained only with the help of the people.

Badal had assured the people that within coming two years, the state government would fully check the pollution of rivers in the state, adding that ‘Greening Punjab’ would check the air pollution, thus making Punjab clean, green and pollution-free. Chief Minister had pointed out that it was unfortunate that due to deforestation, the forest cover in the state had gone down to 7 per cent of the total area of the state whereas, according to the norms of the Union government, it must be more than 33 per cent.

However, he had said that the state government would ensure that the area under forest cover in the state is enhanced to 15 per cent in coming years for which the use of the latest technology would be ensured.

Emphasising the need for making ‘Greening Punjab’ campaign a public movement, Badal had said that with such a movement only the spread of grave diseases like that of cancer, asthma, diabetes and other ailments, which are caused by environmental degradation, could be checked.

Giving the slogan of ‘each one, plant one,’ Chief Minister Badal had asserted that all the government departments, NGOs and religious bodies, besides every individual, need to play a proactive role for checking the environmental degradation in the state by planting a large number of trees. Badal had also said that besides planting the trees, everybody must ensure that they are maintained for at least for three years. It is, however, time to wait and watch when his dream gets the real fillip.