Uttar Pradesh Green Splurge

In 2021, we wrote a story about India’s most populous state, Uttar Pradesh planting 1 billion trees between 2017 and 2021. 

The Uttar Pradesh tree plantation drive in the state which started in 2017, continues with the focus on environmental protection and augmenting the tree cover in the state. This year on 20th July, over 360 million saplings were planted across the state, taking the total to 1.6 billion trees in the last 8 years. 

The drive for this year is called ‘Ped Lagao, Ped Bachao Jan Abhiyan – 2024’ (Plant Trees, Save Trees Citizen campaign).

Special emphasis is made on the protection of the trees, as it has been observed that many planted trees fail to survive due to various reasons. Therefore authorities and citizens are encouraged to monitor the trees so that they can grow to their potential. 

Apart from the tree plantation done by the State’s forest department, the campaign also calls on common people, private businesses, schools, and other institutions to augment the green cover. The government has instructed to plant shade-bearing, fruit-bearing, timber, and medicinal trees along the roads, rivers, and lakes.

In addition, the Uttar Pradesh government is also running a plan to nurture trees through the Heritage Tree Adoption Scheme. The state has identified 948 trees that are more than 100 years old and have been designated as “heritage trees”.

Among the special heritage trees in the state, are the Baobab tree in Prayagraj, the Peelu tree located in the Ter Kadamba temple complex, and the Nidhi Van of Mathura, Akshayavat in the Prayagraj fort, and the Banyan tree located at Valmiki Ashram in Unnao district, among others. 

The heritage trees are not only recognized for their age, but many of these trees have cultural, spiritual, and historical significance.

Take the case of Akshayavat in the Prayagraj, as per the legend, during the Ramayan era, Lord Ram, the seventh avatar of Lord Vishnu, along with his wife Sita and brother Lakshman visited the tree during their exile.

Provisions are also made to establish a ‘Heritage Tree Garden’ in 11 districts of Uttar Pradesh from the saplings of these heritage trees. This is done to raise awareness about the identified heritage trees among the state’s residents.

While the state government has stressed the importance of trees in mitigating the impact of global warming, many other reasons make the Uttar Pradesh tree plantation drive extremely important. You can read this in our previous article. 

You might like to watch this video on the oldest tree in India, located in Uttar Pradesh.