Mega plantation drive in SKUAST-K Benhama Campus

Ganderbal: A Mega plantation drive was held at Faculty of Forestry SKUAST–K, Benhama, Ganderbal.
The drive was organized by Faculty of Forestry in collaboration with Sindh Forest Division, Ganderbal under the J&K Forest Department initiative “Green J&K Drive”.
The drive was initiated by Director Education SKUAST-K, Prof. Shakil Ahmed wani in presence of Chief Conservator of Forests Kashmir, Farooq Gillani and District Development Commissioner, Ganderbal, Shafqat Iqbal.
Director Research SKUAST-K, Saleem Mir, Director Extension, Prof Mushtaq Ahmed, faculty members of SKUAST-K, senior officers of Forest department and Ganderbal district administration were present on the occasion.
Saplings of different varieties were planted within the faculty campus.
On the occasion, CCF Kashmir emphasized on the essence of Green J&K Drive initiative in which Forest Department is collaborating with different departments for carrying out institutional plantations.
He said that around 55 lakh plants are being planted under the initiative till March 2020 and asserted that forest department is always ready to provide technical assistance and plant saplings to every department for such drives.
The DDC appreciated the role of Forest faculty SKUAST-K and Forest department in organizing the event. He said that every stakeholder present has to be the green ambassadors for the betterment of environment. He said that plantation drives will go a long way for enhancing green cover of the district.
Prof. Shakil Ahmed spoke on the importance of forests and the role of students in the protecting and conserving the green gold. He said that tree plantation is one of the most important measures for environment protection.
Earlier, the DDC visited Lavender park established within the camps. He was informed that park is spread over an area of one hectare of land in which 40 thousand Lavender plants are planted. He also inspected Lavender Oil Extraction Plant installed within the park.