Puri: The Forest department has restored around 2,000 trees partially damaged by severe cyclonic storm Fani in the Holy City and the neighbouring areas.
This was revealed by Puri divisional forest officer (DFO) Harshabardhan Udgata here Friday.
“We have been trying to replant partially-uprooted trees in Puri and its nearby areas. We are engaging workers to restore small trees while heavy equipment including earthmovers was drafted to straighten large trees,” Udgata said.
The DFO claimed that they are covering the roots of restored trees with adequate amount of soil and giving them temporary support so that they stand straight. Besides, tankers have been deployed to water the replanted trees.
“We will continue to deploy tankers to water the trees till the onset of monsoon. Initially, we are restoring trees on the premises of government offices and institutions. Our employees are also ready to restore trees on private land,” Udgata elaborated.
The DFO claimed that they are taking steps to undertake massive plantation drive at Balukhand sanctuary, which was ravaged by the May 3 cyclone.
“We are trying to source saplings from other places and plant them on 400 hectare land at Balukhand. We have a plan to plant saplings on 4,000 hectare land at the sanctuary in next five years,” he said.
It is learnt that the Forest department is planning to source saplings from Rajnagar in Kendrapara and Nayagarh to distribute them among the people. “The department may procure 3 lakh saplings from Andhra Pradesh,” Udgata revealed.
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