Lok Sabha Question No. 1744 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-07-31
Subject: Plantation of Trees on Vacant Land
Ministry: ENVIRONMENT,  FORESTS AND CLIMATE CHANGE
Asked by: Bharatiben Dhirubhai Shyal, Kirit Premjibhai Solanki

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTIO N NO. 1744

TO BE ANSWERED ON 31.07.2023

## Plantation of Trees on Vacant Land

## 1744.   DR. BHARATIBEN DHIRUBHAI SHIYAL:

DR. (PROF.) KIRIT PREMJIBHAI SOLANKI:

Will the Minister of ENVIRONMENT, FOREST AND CLIMATE CHANGE be pleased to state:

- (a)   whether the guideline under National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) to plant trees on the plots that have been left vacant for more than two years is being followed;
- (b)  whether any guidelines were issued to identify such vacant plots and if so, the details thereof;
- (c)   whether the Government has details of such plantation drives; and
- (d)  if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER  OF  STATE  IN  THE  MINISTRY  OF  ENVIRONMENT,  FOREST  AND CLIMATE CHANGE (SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

- (a) &(b) National Clean Air Programme (NCAP) guidelines provide a list of actions to be undertaken for improvement of air quality in cities. Greening and landscaping of all  the  major  arterial  roads  and  national  highways  after  identification  of  major polluting  stretches is  one of  the activities  to  mitigate  reduce  pollution  from  road dust and Construction and Demolition (C&D) waste.

City  Action  Plan  prepared  and  implemented  by  targeted  NCAP  cities  contains various air quality improvement measures inter-alia cover greening of open spaces and streets in cities, greening and landscaping of all the major arterial roads after identification  of  major  polluting  stretches.  Further,  cities  have  been  requested  to identify lands that have been reclaimed under remediation of legacy waste dumps for developing a plantation. All 131 targeted cities have incorporated creation of greening of open spaces as part of City Action Plans.

Further, the scheme, Nagar Van Yojana (NVY) has been launched by the Ministry during the year 2020, for creation of Nagar Vans in urban areas, which promotes urban  forestry  by  involving  local  communities,  NGOs,  educational  institutions, local bodies, etc. The projects approved under the scheme also include the projects in targeted cities under NCAP.

- (c)&(d) The  Ministry,  promotes  plantation  as  a  people's  movement  through  various programmes  which  encourages  planting  trees  on  degraded  forest  land  in  urban area, on vacant land and on bunds of farm land etc.

The  Ministry  on  various  occasions  like  International  Day  of  Forests,  World Environment Day, Van Mahotsav, Wild life  Week, International  Day for Biological Diversity etc. disseminates knowledge in planting trees and other floral species which are naturally grown  in a particular region through various

Conferences, Workshops, Mass Plantation etc. The  Ministry  has  also  issued  advisories  time  to  time  to  achieve  the  annual  tree plantation  targets  with  coordinated  efforts  by  various  agencies  and  advised  all State  and  UT  Governments  to  step  up  tree  planting  drive  by  creating  a  mass peoples' movement and take  up plantations on all vacant lands including available spaces in  Urban/Peri-Urban areas, village common land, roadside/riverside, along railway lines, institutional land and unutilized Government lands, etc.

Tree  plantation  activities  including  urban  forestry,  being  a  multi-departmental, multi-agency activity, are taken up cross-sectorally under various programmes/funding  sources  of  other  ministries/  organizations  and  also  through State Plan budgets. States and  UT Governments also carry out various afforestation drives to achieve their afforestation targets.

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