Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi today called upon the people of the State to participate in the ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ campaign and plant at least one tree for the cause of the environment.
While attending the 75th Van Mahotsav at Dumuduma Government High School today as the chief guest, the CM said that the campaign is going on across the country. The Prime Minister has appealed to all the countrymen to plant a tree and upload its pic on the internet.
As many as 1.48 lakh photos have been uploaded in Odisha so far in this campaign, the CM said.
The Chief Minister said that the State has a target to plant 5 crore trees. As our population is 4.5 crore, we should plant at least four and a half crore trees in this campaign, he said. He called everyone to get more involved in this program and upload photos by planting trees.
Majhi directed the District Collector and District Forest Officer to conduct joint monitoring for the success of this program.
In order to protect people from lightning-related accidents, the forest department has planned to plant 19 lakh palm trees in the forest blocks of the state this year. This will be the shield against lightning, he added.
Majhi also said that cherry blossom trees are being planted in Daringbadi. It is a good campaign to put Daringbadi on the world cherry blossom map.
Participating in the program, Minister of State for Forests, Environment and Climate Change and Labour and Employees Insurance Ganesh Ramsingh Khuntia said that protecting the environment is the responsibility of all of us. He said that the change in modern lifestyle and protection of land, water and forest is now the responsibility of all of us.
Bhubaneswar Ekamra MLA Babu Singh also participated in the program and advised the students to plant trees.
Additional Principal Secretary, Department of Forests, Environment and Climate Change Satyabrat Sahu explained the objective and advantages of the Van Mahotsav. He said that 30-month saplings will be produced for roadside afforestation and urban afforestation this year.
State-level Biju Patnaik Award for outstanding forest conservation and afforestation work was awarded to Batasara Forest Conservation Samiti, Nabarangpur and Sagarpali Forest Conservation Samiti. These two institutions were given a cash reward of Rs 1 lakh each with certificates.
A souvenir titled 75th Van Mahotsav 2024 was launched which contains details of various schemes and programs of the Forest Department.
Prizes were awarded to the successful contestants of speech, composition and drawing competitions to create awareness about Van Mahotsav.
