GREEN - One-year plan to boost green cover - INDIA

NOIDA: The Noida Authority has allocated Rs 104 crore for increasing the green cover in the city in the next one year. It has also increased the fixed budget allocation of the horticulture department to ensure that existing parks and green belts are adequately maintained. The move comes four months after the Authority wrote to the state government, requesting attention to increase the green cover across the district.

Earlier this year, the Authority had changed the land use in the Master Plan 2031, increasing the green cover in Noida from its current 14.9% to 16%. In order to accommodate the change, the Authority has added 300 hectares of green area in the master plan by changing some land use.

Following a meeting with the horticulture department earlier this week, the Authority announced its plan to plant one lakh new saplings in the next one year. It also decided to construct 100 new parks in the next 20 years to increase the total green area to 475 acres by 2031.

The Authority has earmarked additional land, including city parks, residential colonies and institutional areas, where new saplings will be planted. Noida already has around 900 small and medium sized recreational parks.

To begin with, the Authority has begun a survey of land in sectors along the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway to identify where new green belts can be developed. Authority CEO Sanjeev Saran said that by 2031, the green belt area will be around 180 acres, while in the residential sectors, new saplings will be planted on 195 acres. Work on new parks will begin by the end of this year.

As per the latest report by the Forest Survey of India, Uttar Pradesh has lost almost two square kilometres of green cover in last two years in spite of there being an increase in the tree cover. According to forest department officials, one of the primary reasons is the increase in construction activity across the state.

Following the report, the Noida Authority had written to the state government drawing its attention to the depleting green cover and announced its plan to plant new saplings and construct new parks in the city.