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Bathinda: To increase green cover in the district, the Bathinda forest division has launched a mobile app 'Suggest a Tree Spot'. This GPS-enabled app would help a person choose a site for planting a sapling.

The app will enable a person to take picture of the potential spot where saplings could be planted as the information would be sent to divisional forest office. Once the viability of the spot is confirmed, the sapling would be provided to the person from the government nursery for plantation.

Bathinda district has only 1.6% area under forests. Thousands of trees are being axed for the widening of roads. Nearly 15,000 trees were axed in the district recently while widening the Bathinda-Zirakpur highway. More trees will be axed for widening the Bathinda-Amritsar highway and Bathinda-Dabwali road. The forest department is aiming to increase the forest cover by another 1% in the next five years.

Bathinda deputy commissioner Basant Garg on Tuesday launched the mobile app. After the launch of the app, Bathinda divisional forest officer Sanjeev Tiwari said, "The app has been developed to expand the ambit of green cover in the district. The forest department has chalked out a plan to cater to the needs of people seeking plantations in parks, schools, public places and in the premises of the government institutions. The individuals can also log on to www.suggestatreespot.com for planting trees and to suggest locations for plantation."

Tiwari said the department had fixed a target of planting 1.5 lakh saplings in Bathinda district. The suggestions received from different spots through mobile app or website will be forwarded to the respective municipal authorities so that they can use them for plantation.

Source: The Times of India