J-K: Udhampur Forest Division launches monsoon plantation drive

Udhampur (Jammu and Kashmir) [India], July 27 : The Udhampur Forest Division has launched a monsoon plantation drive aimed at restoring ecological balance and expanding green cover, with a target of planting and distributing over one lakh saplings across the region.
Speaking to ANI, Udhampur Forest Division Range Officer Ayush Gupta said plantation activities had commenced with the onset of the monsoon.
"With the onset of the monsoon, the fire season has effectively ended, and we have commenced our forest plantation activities," Gupta said.
He said the department is distributing saplings in collaboration with defence forces, schools, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and private individuals to enhance tree cover outside forest areas.
Gupta said the Forest Division currently has around 1.35 lakh saplings available across its two nurseries to support the plantation drive.
He further said that, keeping in view the issue of the monkey menace, the department is carefully selecting plant species for plantation inside forests.
"The aim is to ensure an adequate food supply within the forest itself, thereby reducing the monkeys' tendency to venture into urban areas and helping us find relief from the monkey menace," he said.
Meanwhile, the Green India Challenge (GIC) launched its ninth edition from the confluence of the Godavari and Manjara rivers in Maharashtra on July 24, with a mission to plant and nurture 9.9 million native trees across the Godavari basin.
The initiative, described as one of the world's largest citizen-led climate action movements, aims to mobilise five million volunteers for the plantation drive, which will extend along both banks of the Godavari from Basar to Trimbakeshwar and across the Manjara and Pranahita basins.
The initiative had been launched in Maharashtra amid concerns over rising temperatures in the Marathwada region, which has recorded a rise of nearly 4 degrees Celsius this year, according to the GIC.