Telangana Chief Secretary Dr Rajiv Sharma today directed all the concerned officials to monitor and guide district officials on working on Telangana's Haritha Haram tree plantation program to ensure that the saplings planted during the drive survived.
Sharma held a meeting at the Secretariat with the Principal Secretaries, heads of departments and other officials on the status of the green drive in the State. He reminded them that the goal of the program was to have 46 crore saplings planted across the State and to ensure that they all grew into trees.
Sharma asked the officials to provide fences, covers and other protective measures to the saplings that were already planted, so that they grew into trees and did not just get plucked out or trampled. He asked them to update him every day about the program.
He also directed the forest officials to submit proposals to him for funding the green drive for the next year.
Sharma also emphasized that the program would be a success only if the people, too, embraced it and worked towards it, and that steps therefore needed to be taken towards that goal, too.
"We have to focus on distributing plants of the people's choice, as per their demand. Also, special care must be taken while transporting exotic and medicinal plant species," he said.