AP Green Targets 50% Green Cover by 2047
He thanked Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Deputy Chief Minister K. Pawan Kalyan for entrusting him with the responsibility
VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh has set a target of increasing its green cover, including forest and tree cover, to 50 per cent of its geographical area by 2047, AP Green executive committee chairman Konidela Nagababu said on Friday.
Speaking after assuming charge at Aranya Bhavan in Mangalagiri, Nagababu said environmental protection would be developed as a people’s movement, involving farmers, NGOs, CSR organisations, students, youth, industrialists and citizens.
The state currently has 22.96 per cent forest cover, he said, adding that the 50 per cent target was aimed at ensuring clean air, a healthier environment and better living standards for future generations amid the growing threat of climate change.
Nagababu said the AP Green programme would not be confined to forests but would promote greenery on agricultural lands, in villages and urban areas, along roads and canal bunds, and on institutional premises, industrial zones and suitable barren lands.
He said achieving the target would require coordination among the agriculture, horticulture, panchayat raj, education, industries, revenue, water resources, transport and forest departments.
Nagababu stressed that planting saplings alone would not be sufficient and said their survival and growth would be monitored through a special mechanism.
He thanked Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and Deputy Chief Minister K. Pawan Kalyan for entrusting him with the responsibility. Later, Nagababu and his wife called on Naidu, who felicitated and congratulated him.
