Hyderabad: The forest department is hunting for vacant land to complete the Haritha Haram project, which was initiated in 2015 to increase the green cover from 24 to 33 per cent by taking up a mammoth plantation drive.
The state government had set a target of planting about 230 crore saplings by 2019. Of these, 100 crore were to be planted inside the forests and 130 crore outside.
The forest department has decided to plant another 100 crore saplings by 2019. This is proving to be a daunting task as collectors across the state have informed the forest department that they do not have sufficient land for the project.
The forest department is now working with the Telangana State Remote Sensing Centre to identify vacant lands with the help of satellite images.
The data is being passed on to the collectors to plant saplings on vacant land parcels spotted in the satellite images.
Principal chief conservator of forests P. Raghuveer said, “It is not easy for anyone to take up the challenge. All collectors have almost completed the target of planting 100 crore saplings in these four years, but to be told that they now had a new target of planting an additional 100 crore saplings in one year must have been worrisome. We want to help them by finding some data regarding vacant land and approached the Remote Sensing Centre. We are happy that we are reaching beyond the target,”
