Darjeeling, July 10: The Darjeeling
Tea Association and the forest department have decided to start an
afforestation programme in 64 hill tea gardens to increase green cover
in the region.
This is the first time that a plantation drive in such a big scale would be carried out in the hills.
The programme,
covering all three hill subdivisions, will start from July 14 and
continue for a week. Each garden would plant at least 500 saplings.
R.P. Saini, the
special additional principal chief, conservation of forests (Darjeeling
hills), said the forest department would provide 100 saplings to each of
the 64 gardens free of cost.
“The forest range
officer nearest to a tea garden has been appointed the nodal officer.
Apart from the 100 free saplings that the forest department would
provide to each garden, the estates can buy more saplings from the
forest department,” said Sandeep Mukherjee, principal advisor to the
Darjeeling Tea Association.
Of the 86 tea gardens in the Darjeeling hills, 64 are members of the association.
The forest department will provide saplings of all local varieties.
“The basic
objective of the drive is to encourage green cover in the state. Bengal
is the only state in the country where the forest cover has increased
over the past few years,” Saini said. “After two years, we will give an
award to the best garden in each of the three hill subdivision of
Darjeeling, Kalimpong and Kurseong for best performance.”
Mukherjee said
saplings would be planted in areas where there are no tea bushes.
“Saplings will be planted in no-plantation areas and landslide-prone
places of the gardens.”
Umesh Dwivedi,
honorary wildlife warden (Darjeeling hills), said: “We are working
towards involving local stakeholders to make the project successful.”(TT)