Nagpur plants only 97,181 of 5 lakh saplings target as water shortage bites

The big drive launched by the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) to plant 5 lakh saplings across the city has fallen badly behind. According to official figures, a target of 3.67 lakh saplings had been mapped, but the NMC has so far planted only 97,181. That is not even 20 per cent of the overall target of 5 lakh.

The reason for the slow progress is the growing water crisis in the area. Concern about keeping the newly planted saplings alive has increased, and officials have had to rethink further plantation.

The official progress report of the garden department shows a poor picture. An allocation of one lakh saplings had been made for government and private premises, but only 3,000 have been planted there. The targets of 20,000 saplings along the Ring Road and 10,000 champa saplings on the dividers have seen no work at all. In block plantation, only 500 saplings have been planted against a target of 50,000.

The only notable progress has been at the Gorewada Biodiversity Park. There, 40,000 saplings were planned and 28,325 have been planted.

Citing the difficulty posed by the weather, an official of the garden department said, "This is a drought year. If we cannot water them, planting lakhs of trees is pointless. An important policy decision on the city's water supply will determine our next steps. Without a guarantee of water, aggressive plantation has no practical meaning."

To keep the saplings from withering without draining potable water reserves, the NMC is exploring options using treated wastewater.

Ganesh Rathod, deputy commissioner of the NMC's garden department, said, "Keeping the planted saplings alive is the real test. Commissioner Dr Vipin Itankar has directed the Public Health Engineering wing to micro-plan the supply of treated water from sewage treatment plants (STPs) through hydrants and tankers for roadside dividers and gardens. There has been a delay in getting CSR funds for highway stretches, but the drive is to run through the year, and field officers are monitoring progress."