|
|
|
|
Patna, May 27 (IANS) Bihar plans to plant six thousand saplings in each panchayat in the state by launching a new social forestry programme under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Generation Act(MNREGA), officials said Friday. |
An official of the environment and forest department said that government will launch a programme on June 5, the World Environment Day, to promote afforestation under MNREGA.
"About 6,000 saplings would be planted in each panchayat", he said.
The forest officials along with district officials will involve villagers to plant saplings and to protect it under the MNREGA. "It will provide an employment opportunity to old age people, widows and physically incapable men and women in villages to protect the saplings for five years," he said.
All of them would get wages of 100 days of employment in a year under MNREGA in over 8,500 panchayats in the state, officials said
According to official data, Bihar has only a fragile 6.07 percent forest cover.
The Bihar government has set an ambitious plan to increase the forest cover to 35 percent within a decade.
Forest officials admit that Bihar lost most of its green cover when the state of Jharkhand was carved out of it in 2000. Undivided Bihar had a forest cover of 17 percent.
comments...
|
|
