India’s third largest employer, The Indian Railways is planning for another historic initiative before the onset of monsoon this year. It has come up with an ambitious project of planting 5 crore saplings all over the country with the help of Environmental Ministry.

The saplings needed to be planted right before the onset of Monsoon so as to facilitate effective growth. The monsoon rain will also allow the saplings to grow quickly. The varieties are yet to be finalized and this will be region specific. Mostly different varieties of Neem, Pilkhan, Jamun, etc will be planted on the land owned by the Railways including on both sides of the tracks. The task needs to be done cautiously not to block the tracks as well.

The corresponding State governments and certain NGOs will also assist the Railways for the maintenance of this dream project. An MoU has already been signed with the Environment Ministry for the exercise of planting of saplings. The Environment Directorate of Railway ministry, which has been formed as a separate directorate recently last year, is spearheading the activity.

The project which is primarily an environmental-friendly exercise, will also serve the purpose of preventing the encroachment of the railway owned land.  The railways recently has launched another green initiative to revive all the water bodies on the land owned by it. The Environment Directorate of Railway ministry has also lead other green initiatives like the Swach Bharath Mission.