With an aim to plant 10 lakh saplings this financial year, the Delhi government’s Environment and Forest Department celebrated Van Mahotsav on Friday.

Planting about 2,000 saplings at Shastri Park’s Bela Farm, Ministers, officials and school students, marked the month-long “greening” festival that began on July 15.

The Environment and Forest Department’s target for 2016-17 is 10 lakh new saplings and five lakh shrubs.

Month-long initiative

Environment and Forest Minister Imran Hussain said the month-long initiative will include daily plantation drives across the city. He said the department had teamed up with the Tourism Department to carry out the drive.

The saplings chosen for the initiative include neem , jamun , amla, etc.

Speaking at the event, Delhi Tourism Minister Kapil Mishra proposed a plantation drive at his constituency, Karawal Nagar, on Sunday.

The drive at Bela Farm was carried out over an area of 20 hectares, in lieu of trees cut down for the construction of the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation’s Vinod Nagar depot. Around 34,000 saplings will be planted at the site.

The remaining 12 hectares of Bela Farm will be used to plant saplings to compensate for trees that have been felled after permission was granted under the Delhi (Preservation) of Trees Act, 1994.

Meanwhile, students of Little Flower Public Senior Secondary School, Shahdara, and Rukmini Devi Public School, Pitampura, presented a skit to highlight several environmental concerns and the importance of trees.