Goa: Soon, norms to standardise planting of trees in public areas

Governmentdepartments often take up treeplantationinpublicspaces like parks and gardens, by the seashore, along roads and by banks of rivers and lakes. To ensure that this helps and suits the local ECOLOGY, Goa is set to getnormstostandardisethe practice.

The authority has accordingly formed a technical committee tasked with studying the practices in other states and framing guidelines for government departments in Goa to follow with respect to tree plantation.

The authority has also decided that from now on only bigger saplings should be planted as part of compensatory afforestation. Any agency taking up infrastructural projects, like construction of roads, etc, will also have to plant mature saplings to ensure better survival of the plant.