Odisha: 74th Vana Mahotsav Observed with Enthusiasm

Bhubaneswar: The state level 74thVana Mahotsav was observed with much enthusiasm inside the premises of the Government High School, Ghatikia here on Friday.

Pradip Kumar Amat, Minister, Forest, Environment & Climate Change, Panchayat Raj & Drinking Water and Information & Public Relation Deptartment graced the occasion as the Chief Guest. Ashok Chandra Panda, Minister, Science & Technology, Public Enterprises, Social Security and Empowerment of Persons with disability, SulataDeo, Member of Rajya Sabha, Sushanta Rout, M.L.A Bhubaneswar (North), Ananta Narayan Jena, M.L.A Bhubaneswar (Central), Sulochana Das, Mayor, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, Manjulata Kanhar, Deputy Mayor, Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, Kiranbala Majhi, local Corporator, Bhubaneswar & Satyabrata Sahoo, Additional Chief Secretary to Govt., Revenue & Disaster Management and FE& CC Department, Odisha, Bhubaneswar attended in this occasion as the Guest of Honour and awarded the audience for massive tree planting . Besides, many dignitaries and intellectuals such as Forest Officers, Retired Forest Officers, the common people and representative of Print & Electronic Media had also attended the programme.

The occasion was started functioning with a plantation done by the Chief Guests, Guest of Honour, Dignitaries and Students in the premises of the school.

Debidutta Biswal, the Principal Chief Conservator of Forests & Head of Forest Force, Odisha welcomed the Chief Guest and other dignitaries present on the occasion and highlighted the importance and objectives of Vana Mahotsav.

74thVanamahotsav was celebrated in the first week of July. The Forest Cover of the state is being increasing with the help of Forest Department through massive plantation and protection of existing forests through out the state under various schemes of Govt. of Odisha.

This year, site wise plantations are to be continued throughout the State in the component of Artificial Regeneration (AR), Assisted Natural Regeneration (ANR), Urban Tree Plantation (UTP), Avenue Plantation etc. During Rainy Season, as a result 78990.32 Ha. would be afforestated by utilizing 3.78 crore seedlings including UTP of 4.61 lakh seedling & Avenue Plantation of 5000 RKM. Besides, 6.42 crore seedlings will be distributed to the beneficiaries and institutions during 2023-24. Plantation of Forest Species along with Medicinal Plants are emphasized and encouraged to be planted.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik addressed to the meeting on virtual mode and expressed his immense pleasure on celebration of the 74th state level Vana Mohatsava and he advised to public to go for intensive tree planting inside the state to mitigate issues on global warming.

A brochure titled, “74th Vana Mahotsav” in Odia, highlighting the activities under different plantation programmes and schemes of the State Forest Department was released on this occasion. Another Book titled Mangrove of Odisha was also released.

To create awareness among the school students, competitions like debate, essay writing and sit & draw were conducted. The winners of the competitions in each item were awarded on this occasion.

Adhapada Vana Surakshya Samiti of Sambalpur District was awarded as the best V.S.S of the State with monetary reward of Rs. 2 lakhs. The Head Master, Govt. High School, Ghatikia, Bhubaneswar, Khordha gave the vote of thanks at the end.