Green initiative achieved 60% success, claims Aurangabad Municipal Corporation
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AURANGABAD: The Aurangabad Municipal Corporation ( AMC)
has claimed that its green initiative launched in the last monsoon has
achieved partial success as around 60% of the saplings planted have
managed to survive. However, environmentalists have estimated that the
survival rate could not cross the 50% mark.
Talking to TOI on Sunday, Vijay Patil, AMC's garden superintendent, said, "Till September 2012, we completed the set target of planting 25,000 saplings. Of this, 22,000 saplings were planted at various places throughout the city, while the remaining 3,000 were handed over to interested people and organizations."
"Seven months down the line, we are proud that we could conserve more than 60% of the saplings planted. It was a great challenge as the city is facing severe water shortage. But we were able to manage the show with the help of water tankers," he said.
Patil said that two tankers were deployed for watering the saplings. "Moreover, the plants species were chosen keeping in view the scarcity of water. We watered the saplings in a gap of every three to four days and hence, prevented them from drying up," he added.
Besides, the saplings planted on roadsides and road dividers were also gaining healthy growth, Patil said. Of the total 1,500 saplings planted along the roads, the civic administration managed to conserve 1,300 of them. Due to scanty rainfall, the saplings were solely dependent on watering through tankers, the garden superintendent said.
However, the impact of prevailing drought situation on the survival rate of saplings could not be completely ruled out, Patil said, adding that till mid December last year, about 75% of the planted saplings were alive. "The scorching heat and poor availability of water was mainly reducing the number of live trees. Nevertheless, there won't be any further decline in the number of live saplings till the arrival of monsoon," he added.
During its previous drive, the civic body had planted only 15,000 saplings and claimed that more than 95% of them survived.
Meanwhile, noted social activist Dilip Yardi said that the AMC's claims are hallow. Yardi said, "Under the present circumstances, possibility of such a high survival rate is quite thin. But in some areas such as Shivneri Colony, Shastrinagar and Lokmitra Colony, the plantation is flourishing."
Talking to TOI on Sunday, Vijay Patil, AMC's garden superintendent, said, "Till September 2012, we completed the set target of planting 25,000 saplings. Of this, 22,000 saplings were planted at various places throughout the city, while the remaining 3,000 were handed over to interested people and organizations."
"Seven months down the line, we are proud that we could conserve more than 60% of the saplings planted. It was a great challenge as the city is facing severe water shortage. But we were able to manage the show with the help of water tankers," he said.
Patil said that two tankers were deployed for watering the saplings. "Moreover, the plants species were chosen keeping in view the scarcity of water. We watered the saplings in a gap of every three to four days and hence, prevented them from drying up," he added.
Besides, the saplings planted on roadsides and road dividers were also gaining healthy growth, Patil said. Of the total 1,500 saplings planted along the roads, the civic administration managed to conserve 1,300 of them. Due to scanty rainfall, the saplings were solely dependent on watering through tankers, the garden superintendent said.
However, the impact of prevailing drought situation on the survival rate of saplings could not be completely ruled out, Patil said, adding that till mid December last year, about 75% of the planted saplings were alive. "The scorching heat and poor availability of water was mainly reducing the number of live trees. Nevertheless, there won't be any further decline in the number of live saplings till the arrival of monsoon," he added.
During its previous drive, the civic body had planted only 15,000 saplings and claimed that more than 95% of them survived.
Meanwhile, noted social activist Dilip Yardi said that the AMC's claims are hallow. Yardi said, "Under the present circumstances, possibility of such a high survival rate is quite thin. But in some areas such as Shivneri Colony, Shastrinagar and Lokmitra Colony, the plantation is flourishing."
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