Vriksharopan Abhiyan – 2021 of Coal Ministry to be Launched as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav Celebrations

Source: PIB

What is the News?

The Ministry of Coal will be launching Vriksharopan Abhiyan – 2021 as part of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav Celebrations.

About Vriksharopan Abhiyan: 

1. Organized by: It is a tree plantation campaign to be organized by the Ministry of Coal.
2. Under the initiative, large scale plantations will be carried out in colonies, offices, and mines and in other suitable areas of coal and lignite PSUs. Seedlings will also be distributed in the nearby areas for promoting plantation by society.
3. Target:  It is expected that more than 300 plantation sites in and around coalfields across the country will be connected during the Abhiyan.
4. Significance: The initiative is expected to give a major boost to the Go Greening Initiative of the Ministry of Coal which has set an ambitious target to cover 2385 hectares of area under bio-reclamation/plantation.
   • Bio reclamation aims to restore the natural capital of flora and fauna and productivity of land, which had been previously converted into fabricated capital through mining.

What is the need for these initiatives?

1. The Indian economy is facing the twin challenge of fulfilling its commitments for decarbonizing the energy sector on the one hand and, on the other, meeting the country’s rising energy demand.
2. But the energy demand would primarily be reliant on coal due to its affordability and substantial indigenous availability. 
3. Thus, our coal sector has to play a very crucial role in the foreseeable future in fulfilling the country’s energy demand for meeting various developmental needs and at the same time, be responsible towards the environment and society. 
4. Against this backdrop, India’s coal sector has been taking several innovative initiatives to promote sustainable mining.