Noida: Ahead of World Environment Day, environmentalists in the city have urged the Uttar Pradesh government to formulate guidelines for the protection of newly planted saplings.
They claim to have observed that not all saplings — planted in a breeze to bag international records or during state-wide plantation drives in monsoon — survive.
As a result, the environmentalists have highlighted that apart from the Uttar Pradesh Tree Protection Act 1976, which protects large mature trees from getting felled, the state should also issue guidelines to protect newly planted saplings for at least eight years until they firm enough to become adult trees.
“Many saplings dry up due to lack of post-plantation watering and care. Even if they grow up to become trees, they get easily uprooted in case of storms or strong winds. Every year, UP plants lakhs of saplings during the plantation drive, of which at least 10-20% dry up,” environmental lawyer, Akash Vashist said.