Uttar Pradesh created history on Saturday with a total of 36, 51, 45, 477 (over 36.50 crore) saplings planted across the state till 6 pm, surpassing the government's target by 1,45,477 saplings, on the occasion of the launch of a massive plantation drive by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath kicked off the plantation campaign on the banks of the Kukrail River in Lucknow. Additionally, the CM planted saplings in Prayagraj and Gorakhpur. Governor Anandiben Patel participated by planting saplings in Sitapur, while all state government ministers also contributed by planting saplings in various districts.
Following the unexpected success of the 'Ped Lagao, Ped Bachao Mahabhiyan 2024,' Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath congratulated everyone on his official social media account 'X'. He wrote, “Today, in the 'New Uttar Pradesh' of 'New India,' the public welfare resolution of planting more than 36.50 crore saplings in a single day has been fulfilled.
Several ministers in the Yogi government took part in the campaign in different districts.
Cabinet Minister AK Sharma participated in Mau and Azamgarh; Dharmpal Singh in Bareilly and Badaun; Agriculture Minister Surya Pratap Shahi in Ayodhya; Forest Minister Arun Kumar Saxena in Lucknow; Ashish Patel in Sultanpur; Rakesh Sachan in Hamirpur and Fatehpur; Yogendra Upadhyay in Etawah and Farrukhabad; Kapil Dev Agarwal in Kanpur Nagar; Narendra Kashyap in Ghaziabad and Bulandshahr; and Rajni Tiwari in Jhansi.
During the 'Ped Lagao, Ped Bachao Jan Abhiyan 2024' on Saturday, a large-scale plantation effort took place across various areas, including forest land, defence and railway land, gram panchayat and community land, expressways, roads, canals, railway tracks, development authority areas, industrial complexes, medical institutions, educational institutions, other government lands, and private lands belonging to farmers and citizens.
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To ensure transparency, real-time updates were provided through the Android-based plantation monitoring system software developed by the Forest Department.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had emphasized that the campaign should not be limited to paperwork as in previous administrations but should feature full transparency and effective monitoring. This year, arrangements for geo-tagging of the plants were also made while the Forest department made extensive use of technology to support the initiative.