Jammu, July 13 (Representative) In a first of its unique ‘seed ball’ technology initiatives, the plantation is being enhanced in the hilly belts of Udhampur district of Jammu and Kashmir. To begin with under the ‘Green Drive’ programme across the Jammu and Kashmir, taking an advantage of Gandola (cable car) facility, this monsoon ‘seed balls’ were dropped in the Patnitop hills to improve the vegetation. Union Minister and Member Parliament, Kathua-Udhampur Constituency, Dr Jitendra Singh posted on ‘X’, “to increase the #Forest cover in challenging terrains, district #Udhampur has adopted the use of seed balls containing seeds encased in a soil mixture and dropped from Cable Car.” Deputy Commissioner, Udhampur, Saloni Rai said, “with a motive to save the environment and to maintain the ecological balance, plantation through ‘seed balls’ is started.” “Firstly, Patnitop hills were selected because of the availability of India’s highest cable car from where the ‘seed balls’ were dropped for afforestation,” Rai told UNI.
The Deputy Commissioner said that 3 to 4 kilometers of vulnerable and unapproachable area was covered with the help of cable car eyeing to maintain the originality of the green hills because many trees were damaged in the forest fire during peak summer season. Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Udhampur, Navneet Singh said, “the eco-friendly initiative is in progress under a slogan by the Prime Minister ‘Ek Ped Maa ke Naam’ campaign and as a part of this exercise, plantation is being done in the division.” He said that the cable car authorities also approached for plantation along the ropeway alignment after they observed some degradation. “Reaching some of the hilly areas was almost impossible, so ‘seed balls’ dispersal idea through cable car was conceived for plantation.”
Range Officer Ashish Mahajan told UNI, “as part of ‘Green Drive’, 15,000 trees are to be planted in the area of Patnitop Hills and so far, around 5000 ‘seed balls’ are dispersed.” “Future drives will also focus on massive ‘green drives’ and plantations during the monsoon season so that seeds are able to grow in a conducive environment,” he stated. “It will not only improve the tree density but also enhance the scenic beauty of the region vis-a-avis promoting long-term biodiversity and environmental sustainability,” he said.In total 50 green drives will be carried in the Udhampur division, he said further adding, “Seed balls have an 80 percent growth success rate in comparison to regular seedlings and it is a low cost and effective means of fast plantation.” The Udhampur Forest Division notably, has planned to plant over one lakh saplings of various species to restore greenery to the forests in the region.