Haritha Haram: Herculean task ahead for GHMC
With barely five days remaining, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) is yet to dig as many as 8 lakh pits out of the total 25 lakh pits needed for taking up the mega plantation drive on July 11. The Telangana State government as part of its flagship ‘Haritha Haram’ programme has decided to plant 25 lakh saplings in one day.
Hyderabad: With barely five days remaining, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) is yet to dig as many as 8 lakh pits out of the total 25 lakh pits needed for taking up the mega plantation drive on July 11. The Telangana State government as part of its flagship ‘Haritha Haram’ programme has decided to plant 25 lakh saplings in one day.
The GHMC in order to take up the plantation drive has roped in 103 agencies to take up digging works. As part of the programme, the Corporation would dig about 7.5 lakh pits and the remaining would be done by the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA) and the Social Forestry department.
The GHMC authorities are worried at the lukewarm response from other departments and private agencies. They lamented that some of the government departments and private agencies could succeed in digging only 16.8 lakh pits in the city limits as on Tuesday.
Highlights:
- About 40,000 NGOs, volunteers, residential welfare associations and others have been roped in to complete the task on July 11
- The city has been divided into 400 units (like Swachh units) to successfully take up the drive
- 764 would be spent on each sapling as cost towards its maintenance for three years
A senior GHMC official told ‘The Hans India’ that even though there were 3,56,74,297 saplings in 86 nurseries of the GHMC, HMDA, social forestry and in Rangareddy limits, lack of enthusiasm from private agencies and other government departments has put a question mark on Municipal Administration and Urban Development Minister K Taraka Rama Rao's mega plantation drive.
The official said that planting 25 lakh saplings would be a daunting task if other departments did not lend a helping hand. The GHMC official said that they planned to rope in 40,000 NGOs, volunteers, residential welfare associations and others to complete the phase I of the world record-making plantation.
The city has been divided into 400 units (like Swachh units) to successfully take up the plantation drive, the official said. He added that Rs 764 would be spent on each sapling as cost towards three years’
maintenance.
By: Maddy Deekshith
