Week 2 of NDMC green drive: Four lakh saplings planted

Central Delhi RWAs and market associations joined New Delhi Municipal Council’s (NDMC) mega green drive this week.

On Saturday, around 50,000 saplings of indigenous trees, which included fruit, timber, herbal, shrubs and ornamental ones, were planted. “Till date, over four lakh saplings have already been planted in different localities while the target fixed for the current monsoon season is 10 lakh,” a council official said.

NDMC — which looks after the Capital’s high-profile neighbourhoods housing the elite, embassies, top markets, and fancy restaurants — is conducting weekly drives at big gardens, at the side of wide roads, local parks and government offices and quarters. On Saturday, the afforestation drive focused on colony parks and saw residents and members of market welfare associations participating.

NDMC chairperson Naresh Kumar, who took part in the plantation drive at Ravinder Nagar colony near Khan Market, said it was a simple but positive step taken by RWAs to arrest the deterioration of ecological balance not only in the capital city but the whole world.

“The green cover of any area not only attracts rainfall but also acts like the green lungs. It is the need of hour. We need to plant as many trees as possible and nurture them like our own children,” Kumar said.

According to him, the idea behind the plantation drive undertaken by the NDMC during the monsoon season was to systematically engage stakeholders from all walks of life in New Delhi area.

In this year’s plantation drive, the focus is on indigenous trees such as babul, ber, amaltas, keekar and peepal, which are native to the city and flourish in this weather. The horticulture department is also planting seasonal flowers such as jacaranda, gulmohar and champa, which will give a boost to the aesthetic beauty of .

The NDMC area, a leafy VIP zone in the city’s heart, is home to a mere 1.5% of the Capital’s 16.78 million people and cover 3% of the city. But it has nearly 48% of the city’s green cover, which the council now aims to improve to 50%.

The council maintains 1,450-acre green area, seven major parks in its area like Central Park, Lodhi Garden, Talkatora Garden, Nehru Park, Sanjay Jheel, two rose gardens on Shanti Path, 122 colony parks, six nurseries, 981 CPWD parks, 51 roundabouts, 14 markets gardens and about 15,000 avenue trees.