Every year Van Mahotsav is celebrated in the first week of July in India coinciding with the onset of monsoons.
On the occasion of Van Mahotsav 2022 in Noida, the district administration will conduct a plantation drive in Gautam Buddha Nagar from July 5 to 7. Nearly 11 lakh saplings will be planted in the district alone.
Large Scale Plantation Activity on Van Mahotsav 2022 in Noida
The Uttar Pradesh government has set a target of 35 crore saplings to be planted throughout the state. Uttar Pradesh governor Anandiben Patel in Lucknow, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in Chitrakoot and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya in Ayodhya and Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak in Prayagraj will flag off the Van Mahotsav 2022 plantation drive on July 5.
Gautam Buddha Nagar district will plant 11 lakh saplings across the district. The plantation campaign is spearheaded by the Forest department in cooperation with local administration of Noida and Greater Noida. Various public departments, schools, colleges, residential societies, NGOs, local businesses and big corporate houses are roped in the district to make this mega plantation drive a success.
Noida will see a large scale plantation activity with the Noida Authority given a target of planting over 3 lakh saplings. Noida will plant 2 lakh 64 thousand saplings on July 5. Van Mahotsav plantation drive in Noida will be carried out from July 5 to 7 and then on August 15.
Van Mahotsav Plantation Drive in Noida Sectors
Nodal officer in consultation with the officers of the District Magistrate and Divisional Forest Officer has identified spots for planting the saplings. They have inspected Sector-136 Noida Green Belt Shakti Van, Sector-15 Submergence Area and other areas. Sixty five spots are earmarked for this year’s plantation drive mainly from Sector 84, 145, 151, 155, 156, 158, 163 and Sector 168 along side FNG.
About 17 lakh saplings are ready with the Forest Department in Noida in their six nurseries. These are mostly native trees that ideally help support local ecosystem. The saplings of fruit plants and medicinal plants will be planted as well. The contractor will be responsible for their maintenance for five years.
Forest and Tree Cover – Lungs of the Planet
The aim of the plantation drive is to increase the green cover of the state. The forest cover is like the lungs of the planet. Did you know, a tree can sequester up to 150 kilograms of carbon dioxide in a year. Dense plantation improves carbon absorption and helps in fighting pollution in urban areas as Noida, Greater Noida and parts of the National Capital region (NCR).
Gautam Buddha Nagar with a total geographical area of 1,442 Sq Km has 20 Sq Km of the area under green cover. This is less than 2 per cent. The district has a total of five moderate dense forests with a density of 70-40% and 15 open forests with 39%-10% density.
Read Forest Survey of India Report 2021 for more details
Forest Department growing Miyawaki Forests in Noida and Greater Noida
The forest department of Gautam Buddha Nagar will develop four areas of 0.3 hectares as Miyawaki forests in collaboration with big business houses as part of their corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in Noida and Greater Noida.
Forest department aims to develop small patches of native forests using Miyawaki technique to counter pollution as well as increase the depleting green cover of the city. Around 8,500 plants will be planted during the upcoming monsoon season in these small patches.
Miyawaki is a technique pioneered by Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki. It helps build dense, native forests. It requires planting a mixed variety of tall and short plants along with shrubs and herbs, mostly native species. In this approach plant growth is 10 times faster and the resulting plantation is 30 times denser than usual. Generally, the plantation cost comes around ₹45 lakh per hectare including three years of maintenance, after which the area is expected to be self-sustainable, as reported in a leading daily.
The forest department of Gautam Budh Nagar last month started a plantation drive at the premises of New Holland Fiat India Private Limited in Ecotech 3 area of Greater Noida using the Miyawaki forest technique.
The Miyawaki technique was tried and tested at the Surajpur collectorate about three years ago as a pilot project. Around 9,000 trees were planted in 0.32 hectares area at the collectorate’s premises. Now, the plantation is so dense that one can hardly walk through it.
The forest department is in talks with with corporate groups like HCL, NTPC Dadri, Ambuja Cements to develop more areas of dense native Miyawaki forests.
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