Gurgaon: With nearly 70% of the saplings it planted failing to survive, Haryana govt now plans to make contractors responsible for maintaining trees for five years instead of the current one-year period.Forest minister Rao Narbir Singh directed the department to implement the new tendering system starting April 1. The move aims to raise the survival rates upto 90% and to address rising concerns over poor air quality and shrinking green cover in areas like Gurgaon. “The survival rate has remained around 30%. In order to increase it to 90% a five-year maintenance model needs to be in place, to ensure every plantation is protected, watered and monitored until it is strong enough to survive,” said Singh. With a mere 3.6% of its geographical area under forest cover, Haryana ranks among the states with the lowest green cover in India. To revive 853 HA of the Aravalis in Gurgaon, Faridabad, Nuh, Palwal, Mahendergarh and Rewari over 8,000 saplings were planted in each district last year.According to the Forest Survey of India, Gurgaon lost 2.47 sq km of forest cover between 2019 and 2020, while the state’s total tree cover (outside forest areas) fell by 140 sq km in the same period. Gurgaon’s urban area has less than 1% forest cover despite several plantation drives.“Survival rates in Haryana have always been weak because the ecological conditions are already tough — this is an arid region with low and erratic rainfall, and areas have sandy, nutrient-poor soil. On top of that, saplings are often not maintained by firms which get tenders. This move aims to change that,” said a forest official.Officials said that even though a large number of trees are planted across the state, a significant portion fail to survive due to a lack of sustained care after the first year of maintenance. The department also plans to involve local communities in protecting newly planted trees and raise awareness about their importance, in an effort to ensure that plantations grow into stable green cover rather than remain short-term drives.Haryana has run plantation-linked schemes such as Pran Vayu Devta Yojana, Van Mitra Yojana, and Oxy Van Yojana. Still, officials said the new move shifts attention to the management of saplings.In Jan, the state announced the first set of preservation plots under the state’s Swadeshi Vriksh Bachao Abhiyan. As per the plan, the first plots will include a two-hectare site for jal (Salvadora oleoides) at Aulant village, a two-hectare plot for kair (Capparis decidua) at Budoli, and a five-hectare plot for inderaukh or hindhau (Terminalia) at Nangal village in Rewari, where 96 trees were identified.The plots will be developed in collaboration with gram panchayats in villages where indigenous species still exist in scattered pockets.
