Summary:
Kolhapur: The Kolhapur Forest Department has claimed that as many as 90% of the saplings last year have survived and the plantation drive which started from July 1 will also be conducted with utmost care to increase the survival rate.Prabhunath Shukla, Deputy forest conservator, Kolhapur forest department, said that last year over 9 lakh saplings were planted, of which over 90% saplings have survived. The information regarding the same has been uploaded on the web portal www.mahaforest.nic.in.He added that the Van Mahotsav (Forest festival) which is being celebrated this year has the improved target of over 28 lakh sapling plantations and it too will be looked after accordingly.According to Shukla, under the nursery of the forest department over 21 lakh saplings are available, while under the different departments there are over 15 lakh saplings available.Shukla added that all the authorities which are involved in the plantation drive, have been instructed to upload the photographs of the plantation drive by July 31. He added that those departments, or the organisations who will participate in the plantation drive they can upload their data on My plants mobile application on the said web portal.He added that various forest festival centres will be operational across the city and the district till July 10 to celebrate the drive, under this sapling will be made available to the individuals, societies etc.Kunal Khemnar, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Kolhapur ZP, on the plantation drive said that the gram panchayats in the district have been given the target of 4.50 lakh sapling plantation.There are more than 40 different types of plant varieties which have been made available for the plantation drive, he said..