District Collector Tara Chand Meena, in his address on the occasion of the closing ceremony of the 53rd Van Mahotsav at Udaipur, said that a leopard safari will be developed at Jaisamand on the lines of the Leopard Safari at Jhalana in Jaipur.

Udaipur MLA and leader of the Opposition in the Rajasthan Legislative Assembly Gulab Chand Kataria said that all members of the public representatives are committed to protecting the environment, promoting and conserving forests and wildlife and to make the city of Udaipur and its surrounding lush green.

Kataria was addressing a gathering near Police Lines Udaipur, on the occasion of the closing ceremony of the 53rd Van Mahotsav. The Van Mahotsav was organized under the joint auspices of the Forest Department and the Udaipur administration.

Kataria said that many of the spots in the city are major attraction of the tourists and residents of Udaipur. He laid emphasis on the development of some of the places like UbeshwarJi, Bagdara Nature Park, Purohit Talaab and the areas around Jaisamand lake, which are nor more frequented and virgin destinations. Along with this, he emphasized on planting trees especially on Gogunda road, Jhadol road, and Ahmedabad highway. He further discussed the necessity to grow trees in the premises of Krishi Mandi  and the Police Lines.

“VanMohotsav should be organized every year by the last week of June or July 15 so that the saplings thus planted get the benefit of the incoming monsoon” – Gulab Chand Kataria.

MLA Phool Singh Meena said that some projects have already been initiated jointly by the Forest Department, Municipal Corporation, and UIT. As a result, the flora has increased and tourists are visiting in huge numbers. Meena appreciated the work done in this direction at the Mewar Biodiversity Park. He urged everyone to protect and contribute to the growth of the greenery by planting a sapling on any occasion.

Luv Kush Vatika and Botanical Garden at Kewda

Chief Forest Conservator RK Singh, in his address mentioned that 5 crore saplings will be planted across the state, in a drive initiated by the Chief Minister.  These will be planted in the green zones as well as government office premises and other pastures. Udaipur has a target of planting 13 lakh saplings. He further added that the Luv Kush Vatika at Machhla Magra and Botanical Garden at Kewda are being constructed as a part of this initiative.

On this occasion Ravindra Shrimali, Chief Conservator of Forest RK. Khairwa, Deputy Conservator of Forest MukeshSaini, SupangShashi, retired Forest Officer VS. Rana, SuhailMajboor, Pratap SinghChundawat, Satyanarayan  Singh, Assistant Conservator of Forest DK. Tiwari, Kanhaiyalal Sharma, Sushi Saini, Ornithologist DevendraMistry, Environmentalist  Sunil Dubey, Regional Forest Officer Vijender Singh Sisodiya, CO Scout Guide SurendraPandey, CO GuideVijayalakshmiVerma, member of  NCC and scout guides and other NGO’s were also present there.

During the program leader GulabchandKataria planted a sapling Aeglemarmelos (BhilvaPatra) while other guest planted Indian Gooseberry (Amla), Guava, Java Plum (Jamun), Mango, Mulberry and shady plants like TerminaliaBellirica (Baheda), Royal Poinciana (Gulmohar), Bauhinia variegate (Kanchnar), and Mahua respectively. 151 saplings were planted in total.

According to the National Forest Policy, one-third of the country’s land should be covered by forests, and as far as Udaipur is concerned, 30% of the land area of the district is forest. 100% target for Udaipur was achieved by planting 34 lakh saplings last year by various departments. This time 28 lakh saplings have been allotted to all the departments by the state government.