With deforestation and global warming rapidly increasing every day, climatic conditions are only going worse. The government of India is mulling an onerous of building a 1400 KM long and 5 KM wide green belt to combat the situation from Gujarat to Harayana- Delhi highway.
The central government is finally focusing on the issue of deforestation and hence planning the Great Green Wall of India. The idea is on the lines of Africa’s great green wall running from Dakar (Senegal) to Djibouti. African Union launched this idea in early 2007 and it included 20 countries of the continent. This was a massive hit and the Indian government is taking notes to create something similar as a solution to climate change and desertification.
Though the proposal is still embryonic, it is already generated a lot of excitement among the officials. If this plan gets approved and government sanctions the budget needed, this would change the fate of the country. The green wall will start from Porbandar in Gujarat and will end at Panipat in Harayana.
This comes in action after 2016 reports by ISRO which revealed more than fifty per cent of land in Gujarat, Haryana and Rajasthan had been degraded.
“The idea of creating a huge green belt was part of the agenda of the recently held conference (COP14) of the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification (UNCCD) in India. It, however, could not be taken up there as final clearance is still awaited,” as told to TOI by an official.
This not only will help in restoring deforested land but will also act as a barrier for dust coming from the desert in western India. If this plan gets executed, India will be able to restore 26 million hectors of land by 2030. India has, at present, 96.4 million hectares (MHA) of degraded land which is 29.3% of the country’s total geographical area (328.7 MHA).