Despite planting millions of saplings in Punjab, forest area dips

Chandigarh: Despite lakhs of saplings being planted every year in Punjab, the state’s forest cover has decreased by 1.98 sq km in 2021-22 as compared to 2019-20. This information was recently given by the Minister of Forest and Commerce Department Lal Chand Kataruchak.

He said that during the years 2022 and 2023, the department had planted 54.13 lakh saplings in different districts of the state, out of which 50.65 lakh i.e. 92.88 per cent could survive.
Bathinda district recorded the lowest rate of plant survival at 85 per cent. Of the 204317 saplings planted by the department in this district, only 173669 could survive, while Muktsar and Fazilka districts recorded the highest rate of 98 per cent as compared to other districts of the state.
The survival rate of saplings planted in Jalandhar, Kapurthala, Sangrur, Malerkotla, Barnala Ludhiana districts was less than the state average of 92.88 per cent. Apart from this, during this period, various social organizations / NGOs. distributed 76.28 lakh saplings for planting.