Govt mulls mandatory sapling planting for students

Minister for Higher Education D Sridhar Babu on Monday stated that the state government was considering to make planting of saplings mandatory for the students of universities and colleges.

Inaugurating the sapling plantation drive under ‘Nava Vana Udyamam’ at Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University Campus, Kukatpally, Sridhar Babu said the Government was considering a proposal to mandatorily plant five or six saplings by each student during their college study.

However, the modalities for implementing the programme are yet to be drafted, he stated.

The Minister said the state government was taking all the necessary steps to control pollution levels.

Reacting on the release of scholarships to students, the Minister said the government has introduced online system, which facilitates that the scholarship amounts be directly deposited in their bank accounts.

Minister for Forests and Environment Peddireddy Ramachnadra Reddy said that sapling plantation was being taken up in a massive way to ensure biomass production and for environmental preservation. Stating that totally 26.52 percent of the area was under forest cover, he expressed confidence that the state would achieve 33 percent forest coverage targeted in the National Forest Policy.  

He said that 17,000 seedlings per gram panchayat per year would be raised for the next three years and 30 crore seedlings were expected to be raised for the next three years. JNTU Vice Chancellor Prof D N Reddy said that the university has decided to develop green belt in 10 percent area of total university area.

He urged the government to allocate additional 100 acres of land to JNTU. Kukatpally MLA Dr Jayaprakash Narayana was also present.