Delhi government will plant 63 lakh saplings in 2024-25: Gopal Rai

Delhi Environment Minister Gopal Rai on Tuesday said the city government will plant 63 lakh saplings, including shrubs, in the capital in the financial year 2024-25.

Addressing a press conference, Rai also said the Delhi government has fulfilled its pre-election promise of planting two crore saplings a year before schedule.

He said the government has set a target of planting 63 lakh saplings in the financial year 2024-2025.

Rai said the increase in the city's green cover from 20 per cent in 2013 to 23.6 per cent in 2021 has helped reduce air pollution levels.

The minister said the Delhi government surpassed the target of planting 52 lakh saplings last year with the NDMC planting an additional 35 lakh shrubs across New Delhi.

The environment minister said that the departments concerned have also been directed to get third-party audits conducted to ascertain the survival rate and the actual condition of the saplings planted in the last four years.