Chandigarh selected for the prestigious Indira Priyadarshini Vriksha Mitra Award

INVC,,

Chandigarh,

For outstanding work in increasing forest & tree cover in the city, Union Territory of Chandigarh was presented the prestigious Indira Priyadarshini Vriksha Mitra (IPVM) Award for the year 2010 in a glittering ceremony held at Hotel Samrat, New Delhi on 19th November,2010, i.e. On the birth day of late Prime minister Mrs. Indira Gandhi. Director General (Forests) & Special Secretary, Ministry of Environment & Forests, Govt. of India, Dr. P.J Dilip Kumar presented the award to  the Secretary, Finance cum Forest, Chandigarh Administration, Sh. Sanjay Kumar and Conservator of Forests, U.T Chandigarh, Sh. Santosh Kumar, which included a Citation, Scroll and Award money of Rupees Five lakh.

On this Occasion, Sh. Dr. P.J Dilip Kumar, DG & Special Secretary (Environment & Forest) congratulated the winners and exhorted them not to be complacent after achieving one milestone. He urged all states & UTs to strive hard to increase the Forest & Green Cover of the country.

The Government of India, Ministry of Environment and Forests has been giving Indira Priyadarshini Vriksha Mitra (IPVM) Award since 1986 under various categories for outstanding achievement in the field of forestation and wasteland development.

The Union Territory of Chandigarh has been selected for the prestigious Indira Priyadarshini Vriksha Mitra (IPVM) Award for Union Territories Category for the year 2010 for outstanding work in increasing forest & tree cover in the city. As per the State of Forests Report -2009 (SFR) of Forests Survey of India (FSI), the forest cover in UT Chandigarh is 43 sq.kms and another 11 sq.kms. area is under tree cover. Thus, the total green cover (forest cover + tree cover) of Chandigarh as per ‘SFR-2009’ is 54 sq.kms. which form 38.8% of its total geographical area. As per SFR-2005, the total green cover of U.T. Chandigarh was 50 sq.kms that has reached to 54.0 sq.kms now.