Ahmedabad, July 12 (IANS) Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah on Sunday highlighted the Centre’s large-scale afforestation efforts, saying India’s Central Armed Police Forces had completed the planting of seven crore trees over the past seven years, while urging citizens to sustain similar public participation in environmental conservation.

Addressing a gathering during a plantation drive in Ahmedabad, HM Shah said the nationwide effort reflected the growing emphasis on environmental protection alongside development.

“The Central Paramilitary Forces of the Central government completed the task of planting seven crore trees over seven years only yesterday,” HM Shah said.

He added that 43 lakh trees had also been planted in Delhi Ridge two days earlier, describing both initiatives as part of wider efforts to expand the country’s green cover.

HM Shah said the saplings selected under the campaign were native species suited to Indian conditions and capable of surviving for more than 100 years.

“If you plant them today, even your grandchildren will sit in their shade. Not a single one of these trees has a lifespan of less than 100 years. We have deliberately selected trees that live for more than a century,” he said.

He said species such as banyan and peepal not only absorb carbon dioxide but also provide food and shelter for birds and support biodiversity.

“Plant a banyan tree or a peepal tree, and that one tree alone provides shelter, food and water for thousands of birds,” he said, adding that the Oxygen Parks inaugurated in Ahmedabad would also provide habitats for butterflies and other wildlife.

HM Shah said the campaign in Ahmedabad had evolved into a people’s movement after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ initiative, with more than 1,37,000 people in the Gandhinagar Lok Sabha constituency registering online to plant five trees each.

“Saplings had been delivered directly to participants through a scientifically planned distribution system, while another 28,544 residents from Ahmedabad’s other two parliamentary constituencies had also joined the drive,” he emphasised.

The Union minister also thanked several private organisations for adopting large numbers of trees for three years and taking responsibility for their maintenance, watering and replacement if required.

The remarks came as Ahmedabad observed one of its largest coordinated plantation drives, alongside the inauguration of 101 Oxygen Parks and multiple civic development projects across the city.

–IANS

mys/dpb