Chandigarh: Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann on Thursday urged the state’s farmers to plant at least four saplings in their fields to enhance Punjab’s green cover.
He made the appeal during a meeting to review a forestation drive, an official statement said. Mann asserted that it was the need of the hour to enhance the state’s forest cover, it said.
The government has set a target of planting around 3 crore trees in the state for which a massive drive will be started in the coming days, said Mann.
Farmers can play a proactive role in transforming this campaign into a public movement, he said. As the farmers have made the country self-reliant in food production, they can play a major role in enhancing the green cover.
Each farmer should plant at least four saplings around the tube wells in his field. With 14.01 lakh tube wells across the state, if every farmer does this, the forest cover will enhance considerably, Mann said.
It is a matter of immense pride and satisfaction that the state government has already covered 3.95 lakh tube wells under this scheme, he said.
Last year, 1.2 crore saplings were planted, he said, adding this year, the target is 3 crore.
He also asked deputy commissioners to identify vacant government land in their districts where plantation drives could be carried out.
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