Make plantation drive a public movement in Gautam Budh Nagar: DM

Hindustan Times

15-05-2025

GREATER NOIDA: Gautam Budh Nagar district magistrate Manish Kumar Verma on Wednesday called for transforming the district's upcoming plantation drive into a 'Jan Andolan' (public movement), urging officials to ensure big public involvement alongside institutional participation.
Chairing a comprehensive review meeting of the district's environment, plantation, Ganga, and wetland committees, the DM directed all departments to adopt a mission-mode approach rather than viewing the campaign as a routine task.
'All departments must coordinate closely, finalise plantation sites, and start pit digging as per their targets. Public participation is crucial — this campaign must transcend paperwork and evolve into a true mass movement,' the DM said
He stressed on the need to increase awareness and involvement in rural areas by forming plantation committees in villages. SDMs, in coordination with forest officials, have been tasked with facilitating this process.
'The involvement of schools, RWAs, industrial units, and NGOs must be ensured to build a collective sense of environmental responsibility,' DM Verma said also instructed district inspector of schools (DIOS) Dharamveer Singh to involve students in the plantation drive to offer hands-on environmental education.
'They should learn about the environment not just through books, but through direct action,' he added.
As part of the preparations, SDMs have been asked to identify sites along the Hindon river and around local ponds for afforestation activities. Officials also said that the campaign will cover floodplain zones where hoardings will be erected prohibiting construction activities.
Expressing concern over rising air pollution due to uncovered transport of construction material, the DM ordered the formation of joint enforcement teams across departments to act against violators and said: 'Strict action must be taken against open waste burning, and the Pollution Control Board must ensure adherence to NGT guidelines in all urban areas,' he said.
Reviewing the progress of the wetland committee, the DM instructed officials to include encroached ponds under mitigation plans and conduct site inspections. He also emphasized the importance of reviving degraded wetlands across the district.
Divisional forest officer (DFO) Pramod Kumar Srivastava stressed the need for timely execution. 'All departments must submit their plantation site details and pit digging status to the forest department in the prescribed format without delay. Timely groundwork is essential for the success of the monsoon plantation drive,' he said.
The plantation campaign is expected to begin with the onset of the monsoon season in July, officials said.