Haritha Haram to miss target

The Telangana ku Haritha Haram programme launched amid much fanfare in 2015-16, might be, by its conclusion in 2019, at least 40% short of its stated plantation target across the State.

With poor survival rates outside forests and obliteration of greenery for various infrastructure and irrigation projects, the programme’s target of achieving 33% green cover across the State remains a long shot.

With the penultimate round of the afforestation programme about to start in a week, the State could achieve only about 36% of its targeted plantation so far, when calculated in absolute numbers. Against a target of 230 crore saplings in four years, only about 82 crore have been planted across departments.

Even if the 39 crore sapling target for the next round is achieved in toto, the number will have only grown to 121 crore, which would be about 53% of the final target.

However, considering that of the 230 crore plants, 80 crore were expected through rejuvenation of degraded forests by the Forest department, the results may vary further.

According to the Principal Chief Conservataor of Forests P.K. Jha, the green cover improvement in degraded forests has been evaluated by sampling, after capturing the satellite data from various locations. It has been estimated that about 20 crore seeds could have germinated in the degraded forests through protective measures.

If these are added, the number swells to 102 crore and could reach 141 crore at best, if the current year’s target is achieved. This will still be short of the targeted plantation by 89 crore saplings.

Actual survival of the 82 crore plants is another story. Under the management of Forest department, the survival rate of plants over the three years was the best, at about 75%. For other departments, such as GHMC, HMDA and Rural Development, it is estimated to be only about 45%.

The actual target of planting is only 20 crore for Forest department, and for the non-forest departments including GHMC and HMDA, it is 130 crore.

Mr. Jha attributes the shortfall to the failure of monsoons in 2015-16, when only about 16 crore could be planted against the target of 40 crore. The next year, it drastically increased to 32 crore and further improved to 34 crore seedlings in 2017-18.

The total expenditure for all the four years, including the year 2014-15 when nurseries were raised though no plantation was taken up, stood at ₹2,473 crore. Of this, Rural Development department spent ₹1,480 crore, under the employment guarantee scheme (MGNREGS). About ₹482 crore was spent from afforestation fund and ₹399 crore derived from CAMPA funds.