Last Updated: 14 May 2024
Delhi's Green cover has risen
-- From 20% in 2015 to 23.6% in 2021[1]
-- From 299 sq. km in 2015 to 342 sq. km in 2021
Delhi has the highest per capita Green cover[2][3]
Target: Green cover of 25% within next 2 years and then further 27% in the coming few years[2:1]
Impact: The impact of these environment driven policies have resulted in decreasing the air pollution of Delhi by 30%[2:2]
¶ Mega Tree Plantation Drives[2:3][4]
“Tree cover is decreasing in most cities across the world, but in Delhi it is on the rise due to our successful plantation drive” Kejriwal said[5]
March 2024:
-- 78.4 lakh saplings added to its green cover in year 2023-24[6]
-- 2 crore trees/shrubs planted in Delhi over last 4 yrs[6:1]
- Survival rate has been between 60-75%, as per survey report conducted before Covid; Fresh reports sought[6:2]
- Delhi Govt sets a target of planting 63,00,000 additional Plants in next 1 year i.e. 2024-25[6:3]
- A total of 2.25 crore seedlings already planted by AAP Govt in first 8 years since 2015[7]
Cities and Forest cover[8]
| City | Per capita Forest cover(sq m) |
|---|---|
| Delhi | 11.6 |
| Hyderabad | 10.6 |
| Bangalore | 10.4 |
| Mumbai | 6 |
| Chennai | 2.6 |
| Kolkata | 0.1 |
¶ Development of City Forests[4:1]
17 City forests already developed and 6 more being developed
Average monthly visitors in city forests is 18000 per month[9]
¶ Tree Transplantation Policy[10]
The policy was approved by the Delhi Cabinet in October 2020 and notified in December 2020
Delhi is the first state of India to have introduced such a tree transplantation policy to safeguard the environment & nature
- No tree shall be removed under development projects unless absolutely necessary
- A minimum of 80% of trees affected by a project will be transplanted
- This is over and above compensatory afforestation of planting of 10 saplings
- The agencies which are responsible for transplantation must ensure that 80% of the transplanted trees survive after a year and their payment is linked to this
References:
https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/delhis-green-cover-rose-to-236-since-aap-came-to-power/article67641804.ece ↩︎
https://www.mid-day.com/amp/news/india-news/article/delhis-green-cover-to-be-increased-to-25-in-coming-years-says-cm-kejriwal-23299382 ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
https://telanganatoday.com/delhi-has-highest-per-capita-green-cover-cm-arvind-kejriwal ↩︎
https://ddc.delhi.gov.in/sites/default/files/2022-06/Delhi-Government-Performance-Report-2015-2022.pdf ↩︎ ↩︎
https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/cm-launches-annual-plantation-drive-with-goal-of-52-lakh-saplings/article66565131.ece/amp/ ↩︎
https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/delhi/2-crore-trees-shrubs-planted-in-delhi-over-4-yrs-gopal-rai-9210835/ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/1-7-crore-saplings-planted-in-7-years-says-rai/articleshow/86591147.cms ↩︎
https://www.outlookindia.com/national/real-time-pollution-data-lab-to-come-up-in-every-district-in-delhi-news-272183 ↩︎
https://delhiplanning.delhi.gov.in/sites/default/files/Planning/generic_multiple_files/q3_achievement_of_ob_2022-23_upto_31st_dec_2022.pdf ↩︎
https://ddc.delhi.gov.in/our-work/5/delhi-tree-transplantation-policy-2020 ↩︎
