Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Shri Mohan Charan Majhi officially inaugurated the 77th State-level Van Mahotsav celebrations at Kapileswar in Bhubaneswar on Tuesday.
The event highlighted Odisha’s impressive achievements in environmental preservation, with Principal Chief Conservator of Forests and Head of Forest Force Dr. K. Murugesan outlining the progress and targets for the state’s afforestation campaigns.
During the event, Chief Minister Shri Majhi announced that Odisha has expanded its forest and tree cover by 558 square kilometers over the past two years, securing the third position nationally in green cover growth. He emphasized that extensive tree plantation remains the most sustainable solution to combat rising heat waves and climate change, reaffirming that economic development and environmental conservation are complementary goals.
Addressing the gathering, Minister for Forest, Environment and Climate Change, Shri Ganeshram Singkhuntia, stressed that long-term forest conservation cannot be achieved by government efforts alone. He urged citizens, voluntary groups, and community organizations in both rural and urban areas to actively participate in making plantation drives a public movement.
The leadership lauded the public response to the Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam initiative. Under Phase 2.0 of the campaign, the state achieved a monumental feat by planting 1.45 crore seedlings in a single day on September 17, 2025, ultimately recording 8.12 crore plantations on the national MeriLiFE portal by March 2026.
Moving forward into the 2026-27 period under the newly launched Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam 3.0 phase, the central government has assigned Odisha a fresh target of planting 3.76 crore seedlings.
To fulfill this objective, the Forest Department has already raised over 479 lakh high-quality, six-month-old seedlings across its territorial and wildlife divisions for public distribution.