25 cr saplings to be planted in State within one year

 Vijayawada: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu called upon the people to make the State Haritandhra Pradesh by planting saplings at every house in all the villages. He launched the Vanam-Manam programme on the campus of  Nuzvid IIIT in Krishna district on Saturday along with his family members - wife Bhuvaneswari and grandson Devansh. He planted saplings and administered the oath to the students. He said that the government functionaries should take steps to plant 50 lakh saplings every year.

On this occasion, he said that one crore saplings were planted in a single day on Saturday and 25 crore saplings would be planted in the State in the next one year. He pointed out that the green cover area is 26 per cent in the State at present and asked the people to make efforts to develop the greenery up to 50 per cent. He asked the students to plant at least one sapling.

The Chief Minister also said that the government introduced green awards for encouraging the people towards plantation of saplings. The government created awareness among people on the importance of greenery, he said and added that now everyone is planting saplings in the State. He suggested to the students to spend time at trees in the schools along with classrooms. The government would give laptops to students of IIIT, he said and asked them to give publicity on the importance of green cover in the social media.

He said that the trees should be nurtured at parks, public places, government offices, private premises and road side margins.  The trees should cover buildings, he said and added that the government protected mangroves in 1,000 kilometres in the sea coast. He said that Andhra Pradesh is top in various disciplines and people should extend cooperation to make the State top in the country in happiness index also.

Nearly 2,351 varieties of trees including red sanders are available as State's property, he said and added that the government has taken steps against the smugglers. He said that 47 tigers are in the State and the number might increase in near future. Chandrababu Naidu said that the government initiated various plans to protect nature. The Vanam-Manam programme would be continued for 127 days up to November 23, he said.

The managing director of Narayana Group of Educational Institutions Dr Sindhura Narayana received first prize among the private educational institutions in developing greenery taking it as a movement. 
AP government has introduced AP Green Awards since 2017 onwards to encourage the public, government agencies, institutions both in public and private, NGOs etc., who have contributed for development of greenery in the State with their best efforts.

Eight (8) major categories viz., local bodies, public parks, industries, institutions, office premises, individuals, NGOs and heritage trees identified with 30 sub-categories for awarding the green awards. The State government has received a total of 452 applications for all the eight  categories. Four jury teams consisting of experts in the field of horticulture, forestry and NGOs have evaluated and finalised the applications.

The jury has finalised 94 awards in eight (8) categories which includes 1st, 2nd, 3rd prizes and special jury award. Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu gave away the awards at the function at IIIT on Saturday. Ministers Devineni Uma Maheswara Rao, P Pulla Rao, P Narayana, Kollu Ravindra, MP Maganti Babu, MLC B Arjunudu, Women Commission chairperson Nannapaneni Rajakumari, ZP chairperson Gadde Anuradha, forest department Principal Secretary Ananta Ramu, Krishna District Collector Lakshmikantham and several officials were present.