Assam Administration Begins 'Green Initiative' in State

Guwahati, July 28, 2019:

After the states of Arunachal Pradesh and Meghalaya, it seems like Assam too is on the cusp of undertaking a 'green' initiative to beautify the State amid growing environmental concerns.

As a sign of things to come, perhaps, Assam Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma took part in a tree plantation program at the campus of proposed Convention Centre Cum State Guest House.

Not only that, the Minister had earlier joined through video conference the 36th meeting of GST Council led by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Among others, it was decided to reduce GST rate on Electrical Vehicles from 12% to 5% and on EV Chargers from 18% to 5% from 1st August 2019, which is expected to give more incentive for people to buy electric vehicles which are emission-free and cost-effective.

Meanwhile, Arunachal Pradesh chief minister Pema Khandu on Thursday launched a state-wide tree plantation programme. As a part of the drive, which is known as ‘Clean-Green Arunachal Campaign 2019’, one lakh saplings will be planted across the state within the next 24 hours, with grander plans to plant 1 crore saplings within the next 5 years.

He also called upon the forest department to come up with a vision to preserve the special connection that tribal people share with forests and also help them draw economic benefits from the forests in a sustainable manner. Khandu also took to Twitter to intimate Twitterati about the administration’s grand designs to beautify the environment. “Green is the future! We aim to plant 1 crore tree in Arunachal by the next five years. We began today with the launch of statewide tree plantation programme ‘Clean-Green Arunachal Campaign 2019’ by planting 1 lakh tree saplings across the state”, he wrote.

Inside Northeast’s Campaign #LetsSaveDeeporBeel is now supported by Oil India Limited (OIL). Join us as we continue the awareness campaign to preserve the only Ramsar site in Assam which is facing immense threats (A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention). We need your help to preserve this site of great ecological importance. Join the #LetsSaveDeeporBeel campaign and tweet about it, and do tag us on Twitter. Let’s make some noise!