Bengaluru: Chief Minister Basavaraj Bommai on Friday July 1 urged people to actively participate in afforestation drives being undertaken by various agencies by planting at least five saplings each and taking care of them.
“Bengaluru is expanding at an unimaginable pace and is experiencing rapid industrialisation, “he said as he spoke on the occasion of the inauguration of the 45-acre Machohalli tree park. He also instructed the Forest Department make special programmes to increase the green cover in and around Bengaluru through afforestation and development of more tree parks.
“”For the first time, the State Budget includes a dedicated ecological budget of Rs. 100 Crore. It will be applied to make up for any ecological deficit or loss. The Forest Department has been given the task of developing an annual action plan to carry out the ecological deficit plan,” said Bommai.
The government has made it easier for people to grow sandalwood trees, and a special “Beejotsava” programme was launched to plant trees on land that has been identified as a forest. A total of 97 acres make up the Machohalli Reserve Forest, of which 45 acres have been set aside for the government’s Vision 2022 Tree Park.
