Varanasi: Come 9 am Sunday, the Varanasi Municipal Corporation (VMC) will attempt to set a new record by planting over 3.17 lakh saplings in just one hour on 350 bigha of land along the river Ganga in Sujabad Domri area. The initiative will be carried out under the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojana, under which Prime Minister Narendra Modi adopted Domari village in 2018.Mayor Ashok Kumar Tiwari said that the team from the Guinness World Records has arrived and all preparations for the large-scale plantation drive have been completed. The plantation will take place on land located on the opposite bank of Kashi’s ghats. Apart from corporators from 100 wards and their teams, officials and staff of the civic body, social and voluntary organisations, and thousands of workers from the Bharatiya Janata Party will participate in the drive.Municipal commissioner Himanshu Nagpal said the plantation drive aims not only to improve the environment of Kashi but also to create a sustainable revenue model for the civic body. According to initial estimates, produce from the proposed urban forest — including fruits, Ayurvedic herbs and bamboo — will begin generating revenue from the third year and may reach around Rs7 crore annually by the seventh year. The civic body has projected earnings of about Rs19.80 crore within the first five years.Officials said the project will also help strengthen the banks of the Ganga and serve as an “oxygen bank” for the future. The urban forest will be maintained through smart irrigation, with watering scheduled for 45 minutes three times a week to keep the plantation healthy during extreme heat conditions.
