MEERUT: Days after UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath announced that nine crore trees will be planted in the state by August 15, the work for the plantation drive is in full swing. Officials said that 7.54 lakh trees would be planted in Meerut and 4.15 lakh trees in Baghpat by the stipulated date. The drive will be spearheaded by the forest department.Also, geo-tagging of the plants will be done in each district to trace the location of the plant and monitor the drive. Giving details Aditi Sharma, Meerut divisional forest officer, said, “Meerut has a target to sow 7.54 lakh plants. Around 26 departments – including the forest department – have been roped in for the purpose. The drive will begin on July 20 and will be completed by August 15. The pit digging and planting of trees will be done simultaneously because we are short of time.”The forest department also plans to reallocate plants to others departments if they find it difficult to complete the given target, officials said.“We have to do a daily reporting of the plantation drive so that the state government can monitor the plantation every day. We have to report to the state authorities, who will further report to the chief minister’s officer,” said Sharma, who is also officiating as the DFO of Baghpat.The big players in Meerut, who would be planting the majority of the plants include forest department (2.07 lakh), gram vikas (1.50 lakh), revenue department (90,000), Panchayati Raj (90,000), education department (70,000) and nagar vikas (50,000).“Meanwhile, the areas where plants will be sown have been identified and training has been given to all the departments for the purpose. They have been told to click the pictures of the plants and geo-tag their location – which can be easily done on an android phone – and be checked for any lapse,” Sharma added.

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