Green Punjab: Consistent work by AAP leading to positive outcomes

Last Updated: 01 Jan 2025

BUMPER tree plantations

2023-24: Total of 1.2 Crores plants were planted by AAP Govt[1]
2024-25: Target of 3 Crores plants has been set by AAP Govt[1:1]

Forest Survey by GoI: Tree cover INCREASED by 177.22 sq km in 2023 as compared to 2021[2]

2023: 1,465.15 sq km
2021: 1,297.93 sq km

Tree Preservation policy 2024 for Non-Forest Government and Public Lands
-- Passed by the State Cabinet in order to save the trees in Non-Forest and Government lands from illegal felling

Green Project with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) 2024[3]

-- Target to increase forest Cover to 7.5% by year 2030
-- Total cost will be Rs 792.88 crore
-- The project will be implemented from FY 2025-26 for 5 years

2021: 'Forest cover' in Punjab decreased by 2 square kilometres as compared to 2019 with only 3.67% area[4]
-- Congress, BJP & Akali Govts failed to improve it and instead used it for corruption deals
-- Forest Scam details later

‘Pawan Guru, Paani Pitaah, Mata Dharat Mahat’ from Gurbani

The great Gurus have equated air (pawan) with teacher, water (paani) with father and land (dharat) with mother

Forest Status

  • Total Geographical Area: 50,362 square kilometres[4:1]
  • In Punjab, at least 15% is required to be under forest and tree cover as 84% land is under agriculture and horticulture cultivation here[4:2]

'Forest area': denotes the legal status of the land as per the government records

Year Forest Area Actual Area
2012 6.1%[5] -
2019 6.87%[5:1] -
2021 6.12%[4:3] 3,084 sq km[4:4]
2023 6.12%[2:1] 3,084 sq km[2:2]

'Forest cover': indicates presence of trees over any land

Year Forest Cover Actual Area
2019 3.67%[5:2] ~1,849 square kilometres[4:5]
2021 3.67%[4:6] 1,846.54 square kilometres[2:3]
2023 3.67%[2:4] 1,846.09 square kilometres[2:5]

New Trees - Punjab Initiatives

Nanak Bagichi[6]

2023-24: 105 Nanak Bagichis have been operationalized by Forest Department[7]
2024: 268 Pavittar Van operationalized[8]

  • It is a concept based on Japanese Miyawaki forest(explined later)
  • ~500 saplings are planted in 200 to 300-square-yard plots in Urban Areas
  • They generate oxygen, thus acting as the green lungs of the cities
  • Besides checking environmental pollution, the bagichis are helping in improving groundwater recharge, thereby improving the overall soil health of the state
  • These bagichis are a real tribute to Guru Nanak Dev ji who encouraged protecting air, water, biodiversity and forests through his teachings

Pavitar Van[6:1]

2023-24: 25 Pavittar Van have been operationalized by Forest Department[7:1]
2024: 46 Pavittar Van operationalized[8:1]

  • ~400 saplings are planted in 1-2.5 acres of land i.e. creating mini-forests

Punjab Haryavali Lehar[1:2]

Target: To plant atleast 4 saplings per tubewell for all tubewells in the State

-- 3.95 lakh tube wells already covered till July 2024
-- 28.99 lakh saplings stand planted at the tubewells in 2024[8:2]

  • Total 14.01 lakh tube wells in Punjab
  • Farmers can play a proactive role in transforming this campaign

Compensatory afforestation[9]

  • Compensatory afforestation is the process of planting trees to compensate for the forest land diverted to non-forest activities
Year Area under compensatory afforestation
2020-21 311.978 hectares
2021-22 644.995 hectares
2022-23 800.383 hectares
2023-24 940.384 hectares

Previous Govts (Congress, BJP & Akalis) to blame

FAILED ‘Greening Punjab Mission’ (GPM)

2012-17: ~Only 5 crore (against target of 25 crore) saplings were planted i.e. first 5 years of GPM with only 25-30% survival rate[5:3]

  • In 2012, Punjab under Akali Govt launched mission to increase its forest cover to 15%[5:4]
  • It was envisaged that 40 crores tree saplings would be planted by 2020 at the cost of Rs 1900 crore under the scheme[5:5]

Felling of Trees

  • 2010-20: nearly 8-9 lakh trees have been axed across the 5 forest zones in Punjab for various development projects
    -- Apart from this, ~2 lakh trees were cut in 2013-14, 2.12 lakh tree felled in 2014-15, and 1.50 lakhs trees in 2010-11

Forest Scam by Congress

Congress's former Punjab cabinet minister Sadhu Singh Dharamsot jailed for an alleged forest scam[10]

  • Punjab Vigilane in chargesheet claimed Dharamsot got “Rs 500 for felling of each Khair tree[10:1]
  • Dharamsot received between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 20 lakh for transfer of officials and also set up a mechanism for bribery[10:2]

Miyawaki Forest technique[11]

  • Miyawaki Native Dense Forest, a modern plantation method, is aimed at creating indigenous forest equivalent to 100 years within 10 years
  • Seeding are spaced very close together to induce competition and mulch is used to conserve soil moisture and suppress weed growth
  • This methodology has showed positive results in various geographies and temperatures
  • Such a forest can be created in a private backyard, public open spaces, educational campuses, public parks

REFERENCES:

  1. https://www.babushahi.com/full-news.php?id=187623 ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  2. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/pbs-forest-cover-shrinks-but-tree-cover-grows/articleshow/116550747.cms ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  3. https://www.bhaskar.com/local/punjab/news/punjab-forest-area-increase-hel-japanese-agency-update-punjab-government-planning-133912432.html ↩︎

  4. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chandigarh/punjabs-green-cover-down-to-mere-3-67/articleshow/88886833.cms ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  5. https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/why-is-punjabs-ambitious-green-scheme-not-ripe-for-picking-5839832/ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  6. https://www.newindianexpress.com/good-news/2023/Jun/11/mini-forests-act-as-green-lungs-2583796.html ↩︎ ↩︎

  7. https://www.babushahi.com/full-news.php?id=186775 ↩︎ ↩︎

  8. https://yespunjab.com/2024-was-a-year-of-achievements-for-forest-department-kataruchak/ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  9. https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/punjab/punjab-witnesses-increase-in-compensatory-afforestation-642326 ↩︎

  10. https://theprint.in/india/ed-arrests-former-punjab-minister-sadhu-singh-dharamsot-in-forest-scam-case/1925394/ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎

  11. https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/amritsar/miyawaki-forest-to-come-up-in-amritsar-592038 ↩︎