Patna, Sept. 16: The environment and forest department, Patna divisional forest office and Power Grid Corporation of India Limited jointly launched a massive afforestation programme today to keep the city green and pollution-free.

Altogether 1,500 and 4,500 gabions would be set up in urban and rural areas respectively in the current fiscal.

Of 1,500 gabions, 600 have to be carried out by Power Grid Corporation of India Limited for which funds have been released to the Patna forest department.

Of 1,500, the divisional forest office has already completed planting 750 saplings in Patna.

Power Grid Corporation of India Limited would bear the cost of maintaining these 600 gabion plantations for three years.

This would be done as part of its corporate social responsibility programme.

Power Grid Corporation of India Limited was represented by Bhaskar Sharma, executive director, eastern region, general manager Amarjeet and other officials, while Parshuram Ram, the chief forest conservator, and Surendra Singh, the Patna divisional forest officer, represented the environment and forest department on the occasion.

Surendra said the divisional office has submitted a proposal to the department for planting 7,000 gabions and 2,000 mature saplings in the monsoon to make the city greener.

The divisional forest office has also submitted a proposal to the department to carry out about 9,000 plantations in urban areas and 1.5 lakh in the rural areas of the district, Singh said.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar and deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi have laid emphasis to increase the green cover in the state for which various schemes have been launched, including taking help of schoolchildren in plantation drives.

The state’s green cover area rests at 9.89 per cent, which the government intends to increase it to 15 per cent in the next five years.