CAQM sets higher target of 45 million plantations in national capital region for 2024-25 amid poor air quality

New Delhi: The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in NCR & adjoining areas on Wednesday set a plantation target of 45 million plants and trees for the 2024-25 financial year against last year’s target of 39 million and actual plantation of 37 million.

This comes at a time when the northwestern region, including Delhi, has coped for weeks with intolerable temperatures close to 50 degrees Celsius and air quality hovering in the range of 124-167. 

At 4 pm, air quality index (AQI) in Delhi was a moderate 136, according to the Central Pollution Control Board data. There are six AQI categories—good, satisfactory, moderately polluted, poor, very poor, and severe. Each is based on ambient concentration of air pollutants and their likely health impacts, known as health breakpoints.

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Recent data from the India Meteorological Department shows a trend of snail-paced monsoon rainfall in June, followed by prolonged, heavy rainfall in September. This shift is accompanied by rising temperatures during monsoon months and an increase in the number of dry days, especially over eastern India.

“In wake of scarcity of open land areas in dense urban agglomerates, the Commission has been promoting greening and plantation drives through effective urban forestry initiatives... Extensive greening and plantation in open areas in NCR, particularly along the central verges of roads, roadsides or pathways etc. has all along been identified by the Commission as an effective means towards mitigating high levels of dust, which is one of the prime concerns for poor air quality, particularly in the dry summer seasons in the entire NCR,” the CAQM said in a statement.

Plantation targets

The target for Delhi alone has been set at 5.6 million in FY25 compared with last fiscal year’s target of 9.5 million and actual plantation of 8 million plants and trees. 

For NCR districts of Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, CQAM set plantation target at 13 million, 4.2 million and 19.7 million against their respective 2023-24 target of 9.8 million, 2.5 million and 16 million and actual of 8.6 million, 2.2 million and 17 million.

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“With a humble beginning in this direction, with only 28,81,145 new plantations done during 2021-22, efforts were increased significantly and 3,11,97,899 new plantations were done in the NCR during 2022-23. Setting up a further ambitious target of new plantations of about 3.85 crores for the NCR state governments or GNCTD in the entire NCR for 2023-24, about 3.6 crores plantations were successfully carried out during the year, thus, achieving an overall 93.5% of the target. State-wise compliances with respect to the individual targets for 2023-24 in the NCR areas were 84.6% for Delhi, 87.4% for Haryana, 86.2% for Rajasthan, and 103.4% for U.P., respectively,” said the statement.

The Commission has been according emphasis on large-scale greening and Bio-Barricading along the boundaries for educational institutions, research-based organizations, and other commercial or industrial units. Further, it has advised all the road owning agencies in NCR to target complete greening of the central verges or medians of major trunk roads as also, to the extent possible, on roadsides and open areas along the right of ways. 

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“The Commission shall closely monitor the progress of implementation of the comprehensive Greening Action Plan for NCR, including the State-wise plantation targets. The agencies concerned have been particularly advised to resort to plantations of native species and endeavour high survival rate through proper post – plantation care and nurturing,” the statement said.