Telangana’s efforts to go Green : Daily Current Affairs

Date: 21/02/2023

Relevance: GS-3: Environmental Pollution and Degradation, Climate Change and its impacts; Forest Conservation Efforts.

Key Phrases: Tree City of the World, FAO, Arbor Foundation, National Forest Policy, Telangana, Afforestation Efforts, World Green City, International Association of Horticulture Procedures, Forest Survey of India, Environmental Awareness.

Context:

Over the past two years, Hyderabad, which has emerged as a powerhouse of infrastructure growth in Telangana, has won multiple awards including ‘The City of the World’ for being a green city with an improving forest cover.
In a competition Hyderabad also emerged as the winner and was named ‘World Green City’‘ by the International Association of Horticulture Producers (IAHP).

Key Highlights:

The National Forest Policy of India envisages a minimum of 33% of the total geographical area under forest cover to maintain environmental stability and ecological balance.
In India, As per the Forest Survey of India report, 17 states/UTs have above 33% of the geographical area under forest cover.
- The total forest and tree cover of the country is 80.9 million hectares which is 24.62 percent of the geographical area of the country.
Mumbai and Hyderabad were awarded the tag of '2021 Tree City of the World'.
- The UN-FAO tag was awarded to Hyderabad for the second consecutive year and Mumbai received it for the first time.

Telangana’s efforts for Afforestation:

Telangana state government has provided impressive numbers of tree plantations to show the state of the forest.
An afforestation programme called Telangana Ku Haritha Hāram (the green garland of Telangana) is the key green initiative of the Telangana government.
With a funding of ₹10,417 crore over nine years, the programme has covered a vast area of land with trees and plants.
- The State government allocated ₹1,471 crore to the Forest Department and Haritha Haaram in 2023-24, and ₹198 crore for compensatory afforestation.
As per the state budget of last year, the government has replanted 9.65 lakh acres and developed 109 urban forests in the last year.
- This year, 13 lakh acres of forest have been “rejuvenated” with a funding of ₹1,500 crore.

Telangana Ku Haritha Hāram

Telangana Ku Haritha Hāram (Haritha Haram for Telangana) is the afforestation program undertaken by the Telangana government since 2015.
The Telangana Government has designed this program with the objective of planting trees and greening the whole of Telangana (33% of Telangana land area).
It is one of the Telangana Flagship programmes to rejuvenate degraded forests, protecting these forests from threats such as smuggling, encroachment, fire and grazing.
It adopted intensive soil and moisture conservation measures based on a watershed approach.

Tree City of the World

Tree Cities of the World is a global programme "committed to inspiring cities and towns to care for and celebrate their urban tree canopy".
The programme was launched in 2018 at the World Forum on Urban Forests and is managed by the Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (UN-FAO) and Arbor Day Foundation, a US-based not-for-profit organization.
Across the world, 138 cities from over 20 countries have been recognised as Tree Cities of the World.
Under the initiative, municipalities of any size can apply to be recognised as 'Tree City of the World', provided the urban community meets five core standard requirements:
- Establish Responsibility
  - There must be a designated 'Tree Board' established within municipal boundaries and declared with a written statement by city leaders.
- Set Rules
  - The city must have a law or policy in place that governs management of trees and forests.
  - The policy should encompass rules for tree care, worker safety, best practices and industry standards, citing penalties for non-compliance.
- Know What You Have
  - The city must keep and update an inventory of local tree resources within the municipality.
  - This inventory can be used to develop long-term plans for planting, tree care and removal of city trees inside city limits.
- Allocate Resources
  - The city should have a dedicated annual budget for implementation of urban forest and tree care management plans.
- Celebrate Achievements
  - The city should hold an annual celebration to raise awareness about tree management among residents and appreciate the efforts of volunteers and staff members who are instrumental in implementation of tree management plans.

Allegations by Environmental Activists:

Environmental advocates have claimed that they have seen the steady loss of tree cover.
Different reports regularly cite instances of fully grown trees being cut down for construction.
- For example, More than 20 full grown trees were axed on the VST-Indira Park stretch to make way for the elevated corridor as part of the Strategic Road Development Plan project in 2022.
- Over the past few months, the pruning, cutting and translocation of trees for the Hyderabad E-Prix have also illustrated the conflict between green initiatives and so-called development.
- Citizens are campaigning to save nearly 900 banyan trees that are about 100 years old each, on the road to Chevella on the outskirts of Hyderabad.
Some questions have also been raised about the awards.
- It is the administrators who nominate the city for the Arbor Day Foundation’s ‘Tree City of the World’ award by providing a certification from the Mayor on the number of trees.
- There is no external auditing to establish the truthfulness of the information.
In a competition involving different cities of the world, Hyderabad emerged the winner and was named ‘World Green City’ by the International Association of Horticulture Producers (IAHP).
- The IAHP also gave Hyderabad the award in the ‘Living Green for Economic Recovery and Inclusive Growth’ category.
- The awards were given based on statistics filed by city officials and a field visit to locations with avenue plantations, including the 158-km Outer Ring Road that girdles the city.

Conclusion:

While the counting of trees planted in a park may not be a barometer of change, it is a step in the right direction for afforestation efforts.
- It creates awareness about the environment, which was sorely missing until a few years ago.

Source: The Hindu

Mains Question:

Q. Critically analyze the efforts made by Telangana government for its afforestation efforts. Also, state the significance of the ‘Tree City of the World’ tag. (250 Words).