AP to plant 500 crore trees, aerial seeding begins

The Capital region of Vijayawada and Guntur districts of Andhra Pradesh which have witnessed unprecedented 49 degrees Celsius temperature this summer had showers on Friday along with a good dose of seeds.

Private helicopters have showered hundreds of kilograms of seeds on 17 selected zones of the two cities in an effort to kick start green cover and to lower temperatures in the coming years.

The aerial seeding initiative was flagged off by Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu along with representatives from Krishnapatnam Port and CVR Foundation.

Chandrababu Naidu who was instrumental in similar effort a decade ago addressed children from the state Green Corps and announced that his government will plant 500 crore trees in 5 years time. “All I want you children is to take care of one plant each and water them regularly, this will increase green cover and bring down temperatures by at least 2 degrees,” he said.

The two-day long aerial seeding programme will cover 374 hectares in Krishna and 1080 hectares in Guntur districts. “ 3746 kilograms of seed in Krishna and 10800 kilograms of seed in Guntur will be dispersed through air so that we can cover large tracts in short time and also even for spread,” AK Farida, Special Chief Secretary of AP Forest department said.

The AP forest department has kept 150 metric tons of seeds of lemon, tamarind and Subabul trees ready for aerial seeding and planting of seedlings with the help of NGOs and Green Corps. The forest department is also trying to purchase more seeds from other states. He said that the Visakhapatnam Port Trust will help repeat similar aerial distribution of seed in and around Visakhapatnam.

Later the chief minister also held a review meeting of the Capital Area Development Authority (CRDA) at his camp office in Vijayawada. The chief minister has said that the unemployed youth of the CRDA area will be given financial assistance till they find employment.