GUWAHATI, June 5: Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday urged all to plant a tree in honour of their mothers following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call to do so.
Sarma also said that information about the loss of forest cover in the state can now be received in real-time with the help of a new portal, and immediate action would be taken.
The PM has inspired all to plant a tree in the name of their mothers and ‘we in Assam should continue to plant trees throughout the year,’ he said.
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“I have launched a portal today where people, after planting trees, can upload information about it and also the growth of the plant from time to time,” the chief minister told reporters after attending a programme to observe the World Environment Day here.
Sarma said that he launched another portal where, with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and satellite imagery, information about deforestation and loss of forest cover can be received in real-time and immediate action can be taken.
“Usually, we get information after the entire forest is depleted but this will help us to get information in real-time”, he said.
He also handed over arms and ammunition to members of the third Forest Protection Battalion, formed after he assumed office as the chief minister, for safeguarding forests and wildlife.
Sarma also flagged off 130 vehicles for the various forest ranges and divisions of the state.
Regarding the ban on plastic bottles to prevent clogging of drains leading to waterlogging in urban areas, Sarma said that many local youth have set up industries to produce mineral water bottles with bank loans and they had appealed not to ban it.
“When we had tried to ban one-litre bottles, they came to us with this appeal and we had to consider this but 500 ml bottles are banned in the state”, he said.
The state government will soon enter into an agreement with Oil India Limited (OIL) for producing biofuel from plastic waste.
OIL will set up biofuel producing plants in Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Silchar, Tezpur and Guwahati.
“The state government will hand over the waste plastics to OIL and we hope the problem will come down gradually,” Sarma added.
The CM appealed to the people to fulfil their responsibility of protecting the environment and taking steps to protect nature as it sustains humanity. (PTI)
