Bhubaneswar: The civic body has decided to take up another major plantation drive after a brief pause of a year with officials deciding to plant 3,000 saplings in different parts of the state capital in the next one month.

A civic official said there would be 40 saplings planted with iron-mesh guards in each of the 67 wards of the city, while the rest will be distributed in parks and public places.

The plantation work started from Pahala in ward No. 4 of the civic body. The project will be supervised by the environment cell of the civic body, which will coordinate the drive in consultation with local councillors in their respective wards.

The Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation's environment officer Kapilendra Sethi said most of the plant species were chosen to suit the avenue plantation types. "We have saplings of neem, karanja, bathudia, deodar, bahada, jackfruit," he said.

Sethi said strong trees that have a canopy-like structure such as karanja were more in demand as the plant products are also used for various other purposes and also have a medicinal value.

On the post-plantation care of the saplings, the official said: "We have to give support after monsoon is over as there will be a scarcity of water at that point of time. We got two tankers and staff members for watering the plants and will see that all the saplings survive."

The civic body planted 2,976 saplings in 2015-16, a rise from 1,400 saplings in 2014-15. However, no plants were planted during the 2016-17 fiscal, raising eyebrows.

"The plants on the medians and the sides of the roads are either dying or growing wild, adding to the negative impact on the environment," said Kharavela Nagar resident Subrat Jena.

Jena said the city had witnessed a steep rise in mercury levels in the past few years. "This fluctuation of the weather pattern can only be controlled with regular plantation drives and other green activities," said the schoolteacher.

Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena said they were going to restore the city's green cover and continue with such drives in the future. "We have already collaborated with the department of environment for such drives," he said.