New Delhi, Jun 4 (PTI) On the occasion of World Environment Day (June 5), Prime Minister Narendra Modi will launch a special initiative aimed at reforesting the 700-km Aravalli mountain range extending from Delhi to Gujarat.

According to a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Modi will plant a banyan sapling under the ‘Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ initiative at the Bhagwan Mahavir Vanasthali Park in the national capital on Thursday morning.

This will be part of the ‘Aravalli Green Wall Project’, which aims to reforest the 700-km Aravalli range, the statement said.

The project is a major initiative to spread green cover in the five km buffer area around India’s oldest mountain range in 29 districts of four states, including Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana and Gujarat.

It aims to boost biodiversity of the Aravallis through afforestation, reforestation and restoration of water bodies. It will also help improve soil fertility, water availability and climate resilience of the region, the PMO said.

It said the project will benefit the local communities by providing them with employment and income generation opportunities.

The prime minister will also flag off 200 electric buses under Delhi government’s sustainable transport initiative, promoting clean urban mobility and symbolising the nation’s collective responsibility towards ecological balance.

The chief ministers of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Gujarat will participate in the launch of the project, environment ministry officials said.

They said around 1,000 nurseries will be developed in 29 districts falling in the Aravalli range as part of the project.

According to the government, this initiative will be crucial in combating air pollution in the region, meeting India’s climate goal of creating an additional carbon sink of 2.5 to 3 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent and restoring 26 million hectares of degraded land by 2030.

The government unveiled the Aravalli Green Wall initiative in March 2023.

The 5-km-wide green belt buffer will cover 6.45 million hectares across Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and Delhi. Within this buffer zone, about 42 per cent (2.7 million hectares) of land is degraded.

The Aravalli range acts as a natural barrier against desertification, preventing the expansion of the Thar desert and protecting cities such as Delhi, Jaipur and Gurugram.

The Aravallis are also the source of important rivers such as the Chambal, Sabarmati and Luni. Its forests, grasslands and wetlands support endangered plant and animal species.

However, deforestation, mining, livestock grazing and human encroachment are worsening desertification, damaging aquifers, drying up lakes and reducing the range’s ability to sustain wildlife.

Of the total degraded area, 81 per cent is in Rajasthan, 15.8 per cent in Gujarat, 1.7 per cent in Haryana and 1.6 per cent in Delhi.

Rajasthan’s Udaipur district has the highest degraded area within the buffer zone (0.675 million hectares), which is more than the combined degraded area of Haryana, Delhi and Gujarat (0.568 million hectares).

In May, Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav unveiled the detailed action plan for Aravalli restoration in Udaipur. PTI GVS ARI