Joint effort needed to stem Climate Change – Arun Kumar Saxena
Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh’s Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Environment, Forest, Zoological Gardens and Climate Change, Dr. Arun Kumar Saxena, while addressing the third coordination meeting of Tree Plantation Campaign, 2023 at Parijat Room located at the Forest Department Headquarters, told the participants that tree plantation work is only for official purposes. It is not only the discharge of the responsibilities, but it is also the sacred duty of all of you.
Dr. Saxena said that cooperation in tree plantation campaign can be obtained by generating awareness and conservation of trees in all sections of the society including students, women, youth, senior citizens, industries of every age group. Under the Tree Plantation Campaign, 2023, students from class-6 to class-8 were provided free fruit plants for planting saplings at their residence, various medicinal plants including Bael, Neem, Harr, Baheda from senior citizens in the park of residential colonies.
Planting of shady plants to provide shade to the attendants of the patients coming to hospitals and health centers, intensive tree plantation in case of less space available and nutrients to the members of different sections of the society, especially the poor and weaker sections. To provide medicinal, oxygen supply, improvement of local micro-climate, plantation of saplings in place of trees cut in road widening and revival of water sources-river, pond and canal and to ensure continuous and clean flow.
He instructed the concerned departments to make timely preparations for plantation on the banks.
The Environment and Forests Minister said that we all are experiencing that with the increase in temperature every year, there has been a change in the duration of the rainy season as a result of irregularity in the weather cycle. The main reason for the change in the weather cycle is the increase in the temperature of the earth and climate change due to the increase in the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. He said that it is the responsibility of every person to stop the adverse effects of climate change and we all need to make joint efforts in this direction.
On this occasion, Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Stamp and Court Fees and Registration, Ravindra Jaiswal said that tree plantation, water conservation, giving high place to earth and mountains and environmental protection are inseparable parts of our tradition and culture. He said that tree plantation should be connected with public sentiment, plantation and irrigation along with giving water to ancestors on the occasion of Pitra Visarjan, aerial sprinkling of Peepal, Banyan and Pakad seeds in inaccessible plateau areas and the residents of residential colonies in tree plantation and security. By getting participation, success can be achieved in increasing greenery in the state.
Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Head of the Department Mamta Sanjeev Dubey monitored the target of plantation given along with No Objection Certificate at the time of mining, protection of plantation through Mineral Development Fund and CSR Fund, on Miyawaki pattern while giving license/clearance to industries. The divisional forest officers and concerned departments were directed to provide the list of plantation, phytoremediation plants to the concerned department, to provide medicinal plants to the district Ayush officer as per the list and to plant trees near the transport depot. . Dubey said that the main objectives of tree plantation include improving the water level, sequestering carbon from the atmosphere and increasing greenery. He said that tree plantation is not just a state work but it is a life saving activity.
Chief Conservator of Forests, Monitoring and Evaluation, Sunil Dubey informed about the allocated target of sapling plantation to various departments and the responsibilities of the nodal forest officers and said that all the departments should nominate nodal officers at the district level as well as prepare a plantation action plan.
Tree Plantation Campaign, 2023-Senior officers of Industry, Industrial Development and Establishment, Housing Development, Urban Development, Public Works Department, Jal Shakti, Energy, Health, Cooperative, Labour, Transport and Geology and Mining Department participated in the coordination meeting.
