Pro-Environment? Plant saplings and forget

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posted on 13 years ago — updated on 1 second ago

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BANGALORE: As per official records, authorities in Karnataka had distributed more than one and a half crore saplings in 2010 to in..

BANGALORE: As per official records, authorities in Karnataka had distributed more than one and a half crore saplings in 2010 to increase the state's green cover but there's no record that tells how many of these saplings have survived.
Be it World Environment Day or vanamahotsava week, Forest Department, pollution control board, municipal authorities, schools and NGOs get busy distributing and planting saplings. State Forest Department claims to have distributed more than a crore saplings past year. Karnataka State Pollution Control Board says it distributed around 57 lakh saplings past year. However, they have no information about how many of those saplings have survived.KSPCB Chairman A S Sadashivaiah said the pollution board had distributed saplings mainly for industrial areas and thus it was the responsibility of the respective company to care for the plants. He said for individual saplings, the maintenance was done by Forest Department. Official from Forest Department was unavailable for comment.

Environmentalist Yellappa Reddy told TNIE that government departments alone could not do much. He said it had become a ritual wherein people would observe world environment day, take part in marathons for a green environment, plant saplings and then forget it. He stressed on public's responsibility to look after the saplings once they are planted.

He said even as the country was observing vanamahotsava week, they were struggling to save trees from genocide. The first week of July is celebrated as vanamahotsava.