Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu's home district is not faraway from turning vision of ‘50% land area under green cover,’ into a reality. Of the 15 lakh hectares in the district, 3.89 lakh ha are already under the Forest Department and 1.20 hectares of greenery is, however, not under the department, which takes the total green cover to more than 5 lakh hectares. Pradyumna is confident of filling the shortage of 2 lakh hectares through horticultural plants and avenue plantation and also explains how. Under NREGA, the District Rural Development Agency (DRDA) and the District Water Management Agency (DWMA) are growing horticultural crops in 16000 hectares. “Collectively, this will bring an additional 56,000 hectares under horticultural crops, which also means greenery,” he points out.

Source: The Hindu November 28, 2017 19:30 UTC