'We should aim for 16% of forest cover in Uttar Pradesh,' says CM Yogi Adityanath in meeting with village heads

HORNBILL TV

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that the state currently has 10 per cent forest cover, and the government aims to increase it to 16 per cent.

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], July 22 (HBTV): Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that the state currently has 10 per cent forest cover, and the government aims to increase it to 16 per cent.

‘The campaign Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam that we started in alignment with the Prime Minister’s vision on World Environment Day – June 5, 2025 – is achieving new heights of success. On June 29, this campaign moved forward, and on July 9, it will achieve a new milestone when 37 crore saplings will be planted across Uttar Pradesh. I am happy that the 210 crore tree plantation programmes have been successfully completed in the last eight years. We now have 10 per cent forest cover. We should aim for 16 per cent forest cover in Uttar Pradesh, which will match the country’s 16 per cent population living in the state,’ CM Yogi Adityanath said.

He further stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set the target of achieving Net Zero carbon emissions for India, and the government has implemented significant changes toward that goal.

‘In 2017, when we had to conduct a plantation drive, we could hardly obtain five crore saplings from the nurseries of the Forest Department. In 2025, we have 52 crore saplings — and these are not eucalyptus or poplar, but neem, mango, and peepal,’ he said.

‘I am happy that PM Modi’s campaign to protect the environment through sapling plantation — under the Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam campaign — has been successful. To take it to new heights, on July 9, a record number of over 37 crore saplings will be planted in a single day,’ he added.

Earlier, CM Yogi paid floral tribute to Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee on his 125th birth anniversary.

Addressing the event in Lucknow, CM Yogi recalled Mookerjee’s contributions as an educationist and his service during the Bengal famine of 1943. ‘It is the 125th birth anniversary of Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee today. On behalf of the people of the state, I pay tribute to him. Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee was born on 6th July 1901. At the age of 33, he became the youngest Vice Chancellor of Calcutta University. He was a great educationist and freedom fighter. The country remembers the service he rendered during the Bengal famine,’ CM Yogi said.

(ANI)