The state Rural Development Department has laid down guidelines to ensure that plantation drive in 11 districts of Bundelkhand and Vindhyanchal is completed without any irregularity as reported in the past. During the plantation period July to September saplings like tamarind,sheesham,bael,mahua,kanji and neem will be planted. The department is taking steps to ensure that the survival rate of plants this year is higher compared to that of the last year. In 2008,the Rural Development department had launched the prestigious Plant 10-crore trees drive in Bundelkhand.But the department had faced a lot of flak in the execution of the project,like using dried saplings,low survival rate of the plants and also,the absence of plants in several places. The Congress had raised this issue at the Central level as the drive was a part of the UPA governments flagship programme NREGS. Last year,the departments target was to plant 10-crore saplings in seven districts of Bundelkhand. This year,however,it plans to plant 5.5 crore saplings in the seven districts of Bundelkhand and four in the Vindhyanchal region. While the Bundelkhand districts are Jhansi,Jalaun,Banda,Lalitpur,Chitrakoot,Hamirpur and Mahoba,the four Vindhyanchal districts are Mirzapur,Sonebhadra,Chandauli and Allahabad. Moreover,this year,plantation will be undertaken only by the rural development and forest departments. Commissioner (Rural Development) Manoj Kumar Singh said: Last year,anomalies were reported in the drive undertaken by other departments like the PWD. The target has also been reduced after conducting a feasibility study. This year,saplings will be purchased only from government nurseries either from the same or the immediate neighbouring district. We have also contacted Madhya Pradesh for saplings from Jabalpur and Sagar districts. Their climate is also similar to that of Bundelkhand, said Singh. The department has also laid down two mandatory provisions. Firstly,every site should have a barbed wire fence and secondly,the villages should develop a model pond around which the plantation should be focussed. A model pond will have benches around it,a boundary with barbed fencing and a gate,apart from a person deployed for security purposes. He will be paid under the NREGS and will have to be either a widow or an elderly person, said Singh.
