PM launches plantation of 10 million saplings

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has inaugurated the distribution and plantation of ten million saplings across the country as a part of the celebration of Mujib Year.

The premier opened the program by planting three saplings on her official Ganabhaban residence premises on Thursday morning, marking the Mujib Year, the birth centenary of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

Sheikh Hasina also inaugurated the National Tree Plantation Campaign 2020 through the same event.

Earlier, at a virtual meeting on July 12, Minister for Environment, Forests and Climate Change Md Shahab Uddin said the prime minister will inaugurate the distribution and plantation of ten million saplings across the country by planting saplings on Ganabhaban premises on July 16.

The minister also said after the inauguration of the program by the prime minister, three saplings -- one fruit, one wood, and one medicinal -- will be officially planted in every district and upazila.

Another 20,325 saplings will be planted in each of 492 upazilas of the country at a convenient time in the current tree plantation season between July 16 and September 15 while maintaining health codes imposed in the wake of coronavirus outbreak, Shahab Uddin said.

“Following the footsteps of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, who first started tree plantation drive in the country, this program is being implemented in the Mujib Year to maintain the balance of environment,” the minister added.