BOKARO | Jul 04, 2017: The late arrival of monsoon in the district known for its greenery has initiated a massive plantation drive here. The forest department has set a target to plant more than 10.34 lakh saplings in the next 30 days on hills, roadsides and degraded forest land.

Bokaro Steel Plant (BSL) spokesperson Manikanth Dhar said they have committed to plant two lakh saplings over 200 acres of land this year. Other coal, steel, gas and power industries in the district have also decided to take up the plantation drive.

Due to rampant cutting of trees for illegal coal mining and firewood, the number of trees in the district has reduced over the past few years. Divisional forest officer Rajender Naidu assured of similar activities in the coming years. "Out of the 543 sq kms of forest land, we have identified 738 hectares of land including Chas, Gomia and Chandankyari for the plantation drive," he said.

Karanj, teak, mahogany, shisham, cashew, amla are some of the tree species which will be planted by the forest department. Naidu informed that the demarcation work was done and pits are being dug.

The plantation work will begin from July 15 and will continue till August 10.

Dhar said, "The Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) has set a target of planting 10 lakh trees in 2017-18 across various parts of the country, of which two lakh saplings will be planted here. Tree plantation will be done not only in the plant premises and township but also in the adjoining areas."

(Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/)