8.6 million tree saplings to be planted in Madhes

Janakpurdham, June 30: The Madhes Province government is initiating a tree plantation campaign to prevent the destruction of the Chure region and to protect the environment.

Under the campaign, the Madhes Province government will plant 8.6 million saplings of various varieties of trees.

The Secretary at the Ministry of Forests and Environment of the provincial government, Uddhav Bahadur Ghimire, said that the campaign aims to plant 400 thousand saplings only along the roadside in the province.

"In the current fiscal year, the tree plantation would be carried out on 50 kilometers of roadside and an area of 278 hectares," Ghimire added. 

The Ministry stated that out of 8.6 million saplings, 6.2 million plants will be produced from the provincial government's budget and the remaining through conditional grants from the federal government.

He said that those plants will be distributed to the public free of charge. Among the produced plants, about eight percent will be planted in areas under government forests and the division forest offices, while the remaining 80 percent will be planted on private land.

The provincial government has set the long-term goal of maintaining environmental balance along with the expansion of greenery through this initiative. It is believed that this campaign will contribute positively to the conservation of forests, the protection of the Chure region, the prevention of river and land erosion, and environmental protection and improvement.

According to Anil Sah, the Forest Officer of the Division Forest Office Dhanusha, the planting of 4,400 saplings has already begun in both sides of the Janakpur-Dhalkebar road section in Dhanusha district. (RSS)