Haritha Haram springs back to life in Telangana

HYDERABAD: An experimental approach adopted by the forest department for the ambitious Haritha Haram programme appears to have paid off handsomely, with saplings planted between February and March this year registering an impressive growth and survival. Saplings of various flowering trees planted over a 20-km stretch of highway in Medak district have grown taller by one to two metres since planting early this year way before the monsoon was even on the horizon.
Over the past two years, the Haritha Haram programme and the targeted planting of saplings was timed to coincide with the arrival of monsoon. Though the official launch is set for July, the forest department decided to experiment with planting saplings in spring.
"As long as water is available, plants grow well in this period, much faster than they grow after monsoon," said additional principal chief conservator of forests, RM Dobriyal, who is also the point person for the Haritha Haram programme.
However, success did not come easy, according to Priyanka Varghese, the Officer on Special Duty (Haritha Haram) in the Chief Minister's Office. She said that it was a matter of "learning, failing, learning". "This programme sees the involvement of nearly 28 government departments. This is a noble cause. Trees take time to grow and we call on everyone to support this activity," she said.
Dobriyal said that small forest blocks near urban areas are being developed as urban parks while large 'block plantations' have already been taken up and more areas are being added to this.
Interestingly, over the past two years, the forest department has been clear-felling its old eucalyptus plantations grown as part of social forestry drives for the past 20 years or so. "In place of monoculture of eucalyptus, we have now planted in many such forest land patches a mixture of species, up to 28, to regenerate natural forests with varied species of plants and trees," Dobriyal said.