Centre mulls 1,400-km-long great 'green wall': Report

The government is devising a plan to come up with a 'green wall' expected to be 1,400-km long and 5-km wide between Gujarat and Delhi-Haryana border, according to a report in The Times of India.

The green belt, a replica of Africa's ambitious 8,000 km 'Great Green Wall' initiative that was designed to run across more than 20 African countries, will be an attempt to combat land degradation.

The project is still in its early stages and will likely stretch from Porbandar in Gujarat to Panipat in Harayana. The idea behind the green belt is to stop degradation along the Aravali hills ranges by afforestation, as per the report.

It would also help India deal with the Thar desert desertification in Rajasthan.

What is the Green Wall Initiative?

The Great Green Wall Initiative is an African Union-led programme started in 2007 and funded by the UN and the World Bank. The idea was to grow an 8,000-km-long vegetative strip across the width of the African continent, cutting through various African countries.

The planned strip extends from Senegal in West Africa to Djibouti in East Africa. It is designed to trap the sands of the Sahara, halt the advance of the desert and restore 50 million hectares of land.

(With inputs from Reuters)