The Hindu - Delhi 12.08.2009
Jal Board to plant 2.5 lakh saplings
Staff Reporter
Green cover: Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit planting a sapling during her visit to the Haiderpur water treatment plant in the Capital on Tuesday.
NEW DELHI: To enhance the Capital’s green cover for the upcoming Commonwealth Games, the Delhi Jal Board will plant 2.5 lakh new saplings, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit announced on Tuesday.
Speaking at a tree plantation drive at the Haiderpur water treatment plant in the Capital, Ms. Dikshit cautioned against indiscriminate cutting of trees for executing development projects. “This would create an ecological imbalance,” she warned.
The Chief Minister said it was essential to preserve the ecological balance and inculcate awareness about environment conservation among people, especially children.
Referring to her government’s initiative to increase the green cover, Ms. Dikshit said the massive tree plantation drives carried out across the Capital so far had resulted in the city getting nine new forests.
She said her government was working to make Delhi pollution-free and described the bio-diversity park near Wazirabad as one of the “shinning examples” of her government’s efforts in this direction. The 693-acre park is aimed at restoring the Yamuna apart from helping in preservation of some endangered species of birds and trees.
