Shillong, June 4: As part of the initiative of the Honourable Chief Minister of Meghalaya for the Meghalaya One Citizen One Tree campaign for the Celebration of the World Environment Day 2019 on the 5th June 2019, the Soil and Water Conservation Department, Government of Meghalaya.
This is done in collaborative efforts with the National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development Regional Office Shillong, have made effort to plant a million tree saplings across the 11 Districts of the State under the Project on Springshed Development, funded under the National Adaptation Fund for Climate Change (NAFCC) as part of the initiative to protect vulnerable Springs and rejuvenate their Catchments and recharge areas.
At a cost of Rs. 4.11 Cr, this tree planting in 306 Springsheds is a component under “Afforestation measures” of the programme and will be in tune with this year’s World Environment Day theme on “Air Pollution”.
This project envisages to address the challenges and the threat to the springs of the state which are the source of water and to ensure sustained yield and availability, especially during the lean dry months. It is a known fact that the waterways in our state are rainfed and the source of all the water in the streams and rivers comes from the feeder springs.
This initiative of planting a million trees will help in ensuring the catchment of these springs are revived and the water discharge from such springs will improve over the years. The project is being implemented on participatory approach with active involvement of the people at the grass root level ensuring its sustainability.
I want to take many tree