The Delhi government is giving away free small plants and pots to people’s homes to increase the amount of greenery in the city. Environment Minister Gopal Rai said that a team will be set up to identify which plants are most likely to survive after being transplanted, and to find out which soil types are best for them. This will improve the survival rate of the plants. Delhi’s green cover has increased from 21.88% to 23.06% of its geographical area, but the government wants to find alternative ways to increase the green cover.
The forest department and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi will launch a pilot project to provide plants and pots free of cost to people at their doorsteps. They are conducting a survey in one ward in northeast Delhi to find out what kind of plants people want. Each ward in Delhi has around 10,000 houses. If the project is successful, they will expand it to other areas.
Biodiversity experts say that small plants are easier to maintain and require fewer resources than larger ones, which makes them a more sustainable choice for increasing green cover in certain areas. The Delhi environment minister said that a few species have a poor survival rate after being transplanted, and some soil types are not suitable for tree transplantation.
The Delhi government will launch a 16-point action plan to curb pollution in the summer season this month. Rai acknowledged that efforts to curb dust pollution have improved in the national capital region (NCR) areas of the neighbouring states. However, he suggested that Delhi’s neighbouring states set up a committee to look into the problem of air pollution in the NCR areas.
