Delhi Development Authority to Plant 10 Lakh Trees in Delhi

Hardeep S Puri, a minister in India’s Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA), said today that creation of new urban spaces needs to be green and resilient.

He added that development process in Delhi is now being given a green and sustainable direction by the Ministry. Puri inaugurated the ‘Van Mahotsav’ festival organized by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) by plantation of around 20,000 trees across Delhi today.

Lt. Governor of Delhi, Anil Baijal and Parvesh Sahib Singh, Member of Parliament were also present on the occasion along with senior officers of DDA and MoHUA.

Puri reiterated the decision to redevelop the seven General Pool Residential Accommodation (GPRA) colonies without cutting of trees and assured full commitment and support of the Centre for timely completion of development projects in Delhi, including Delhi Metro Phase 4.

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The minister acknowledged DDA’s role in building, restoring, maintaining, and preserving the natural heritage of the city. He added that with 783 parks and 6 biodiversity parks covering an extent of 11,000 acres approximately of land under their jurisdiction, DDA is a major owner of green area in Delhi.

He also appreciated DDA’s initiative of taking up large scale plantation. This year, DDA has proposed to plant 10 lakh trees throughout Delhi in DDA Parks, Biodiversity Parks, Yamuna Flood Plain, vacant spaces, along roadside and on land proposed for Compensatory Afforestation.

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Local / indigenous species like Neem, Jamun, Arjun, Peepal, Gulmohar, Amaltash, Kadamb, Sheesham etc. are proposed to be planted. So far, DDA has planted 1.70 lakh trees and likely to achieve the target by 30th September, 2018.

Delighted to launch #VanMahotsav2018 with @LtGovDelhi & @p_sahibsingh from Dwarka this morning.

One million trees of fruit bearing & other local species will be planted all over Delhi by @official_dda under this initiative to enhance the green cover in our city. pic.twitter.com/eYmSZsnRjz

— Hardeep Singh Puri (@HardeepSPuri) August 5, 2018

Puri participated in the tree plantation drive in Dwarka where around 10,000 trees were planted today. Dwarka is a sub-city planned and developed by DDA having an area around 5648 hectares with recreational land use of 19.94%. In Dwarka there are 94 parks.

So far 50,000 trees of various indigenous tree / shrub species have been planted in Dwarka and around two lakh additional trees will be planted this year.

Photo courtesy: Hardeep S Puri /Twitter