UP to plant trees with religious significance

The trees associated with Lord Ram, Gautam Buddha and Guru Nanak Dev will be planted in three gardens in the Gorakhpur division next month when the state government launches its massive tree plantation drive by planting 25 crore saplings.

"Trees like Saal, Jamun, Peepal, Bargad, Khirni are associated with Gautam Buddha and will be planted in the Guru Vatika. Many plants mentioned in the holy books of Sikhs -Reetha sahib, Tili Saheb and Ber Saheb — which are associated with Guru Nanak Dev, will also get space in the garden," said Avinash Kumar, the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO).

The Gorakhpur forest division is among the nine conducive zones of the state where the agro-climatic diversity gardens will be developed.

A Nakshatra Vatika will be developed in a 100-metre space where 27 saplings will be planted. There will be a separate garden of medicinal plants.

"Gorakhpur forest division and the state forest department have already started collecting saplings. Saplings of medicinal values will be planted only after the advice of experts," said the DFO.

"So far, 150 saplings of different species have been collected, and soon we will get the rest of the species," he said.

The saplings of as many as 201 species will be planted in a day in July. These will be planted in a five-hectare garden in the Farenda range in Maharajganj district of the Gorakhpur division.

However, the date of the inauguration of the gardens is yet to be finalized.

The Yogi government has decided to plant 25 crore saplings in July this year with an aim to increase the green cover of the state.

The Uttar Pradesh government had secured a place in the Guinness Book of World Records last year by planting 22 crore saplings in a day..