Number of saplings planted in Patna far exceed number of trees

The Bihar government on Thursday told the Legislative Council that the number of saplings planted in the state capital in the last few years was many times more than the number of trees felled for development activities. Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi, who holds the Environment and Forest portfolio, made a statement to this effect in his written reply to a query from RJD MLC Nawal Kishore Yadav.

According to the figures submitted by the DyCM, 6,050 saplings were planted in the city during 2016-17 as against 1,096 trees felled during the period. There was a dip in reforestation the following year when only 1,610 saplings were planted as against 1,222 felled trees. However, in 2018-19 reforestation saw a spurt as the number of felled trees in the city dropped to only 925 though the number of saplings planted soared to 18,165.

Sushil Modi said the government was committed to improving forest cover across the state and has adopted a policy of planting "three saplings for every uprooted tree". The total number of saplings planted, since 2012, stood at 80,604 for the city and 5,86,080 for the entire Patna district, he added.

The DyCM also claimed that "unavailability of vast, open spaces" in the city made it difficult to take up planting of trees "on a huge scale" though the government was trying its best to do whatever was possible under the circumstances. Notably, diminishing green cover in the city had recently drawn the ire of the Patna High Court which had warned the state government that it may pass a stricture of taking permission from the court before felling of trees mandatory if remedial steps were not taken..

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