Lucknow: Describing the state govt’s ‘Vraksharopan’ (tree plantation) as ‘Bhrashtaropan’ (sowing corruption), Samajwadi Party national president Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday said for the BJP planting 35 crore sapling was a ploy to set aside Rs 350 crore at the rate of Rs 10 per plant.SP spokesperson cited recent news reports of claims by environmentalists that Banda, which recently made headlines for not only being the hottest city in the country but also of the world, has only 3% forest cover.“If that is the case then where are these crores of trees being planted? The govt must focus on planting saplings in Bundelkhand region to improve forest cover there,” said an SP spokesperson.“People did not spare the Lord’s temple, how will they spare plants and trees,” Akhilesh asked, adding that the BJP govt has only planted trees on paper in the last 10 years.“Their trees are not visible on land. Whatever little plantation has been done, saplings have died because of poor upkeep,” he alleged.Akhilesh said every year, the BJP govt comes up with new schemes and names for the plantation drives which have eventually ended up as “corruption drives”.He questioned as to why trees and plants were looked after only on the plantation drive day every year only.“If 35 crore trees are planted every year and they are looked after well, the drive would contribute significantly in improving pollution levels but that is not happening,” said Akhilesh, who has done his master’s in environmental engineering from the University of Sydney in Australia.He said illegal felling of trees was rampant under the BJP govt which was posing a serious threat to the environment.“The air and water pollution levels are rising. The BJP made false promises of cleaning the rivers. The Ganga and its tributaries have not been cleaned. The Yamuna is badly polluted,” Akhilesh said, adding that most of the rivers were struggling for existence.“Under the Samajwadi Party govt, a world class riverfront was constructed along the Gomti in Lucknow. The river was cleaned. The project came up as an example for the rest of the world in cleaning of rivers and beautification of riverbanks. But the BJP govt destroyed the riverfront by leaving it unattended for the last 10 years,” Akhilesh said.
