Forest Minister urges citizens to plant more trees for greener Maharashtra

Maharashtra forest minister Sanjay Rathod on Wednesday urged citizens to plant more trees to improve state's green cover. minister me this appeal at launch of a tree plantation programme under Vasantrao Naik Harit Maharashtra Abhiyan in Thane district.

Citing Indian Plants Forest Survey 2019, Rathod said Maharashtra has 20.01 per cent forest cover compared to 8.65 per cent in India. state's forest area has increased by about 97,500 hectares in 2019, he said, ding that government plans to plant 10 crore trees annually for next five years.

government has proposed to plant five crore trees through forest department and remaining through gram panchayats, ministrative departments and Central government establishments in state, minister said. Rathod also appealed to citizens to take part in this campaign and contribute towards making Maharashtra greener.

(Photo Credit: PTI)