Every year, millions of trees are planted in all parts of India during the monsoon season, yet the ground reality tells a different story.

According to the 2023 report of the Central Government's Forest Department, India's forest area increased by 1,445 square kilometres between 2021 and 2023, bringing the country's total green cover to 25.2 per cent.

Read in Hindi: हरियाली का भ्रम फैला रहे कागज के पेड़ और जमीनी हकीकत

While this claim is comforting, the reality is much more complex. States like Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, and Mizoram have certainly increased forest cover. However, another report shows that 46,000 square kilometres of forest land have been converted to non-forest use in the last decade.

In cities like Agra, the story is grimmer. Lakhs of trees have been felled in the last 30 years, and they have not been compensated to date. The forests of Keetham have shrunk, and conspiratorial efforts are underway to reduce the area of the Soor Sarovar Bird Sanctuary and Wetland. In Vrindavan, hundreds of trees were felled overnight, and now the trees of Gadha Pada Malgodown have disappeared. The Taj Trapezium Zone is an environmentally sensitive area.

In our state, in the last 25 years, crores of saplings have been planted every monsoon season, but what we see are mostly invasive species like Vilayati Babul. Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav even set a Guinness World Record by planting five crore saplings in a single day. Current Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath set a target of planting nine crore saplings in 2018-19, promising medicinal and religiously important plants across the state.

But what was the result? Reliable data on plant survival rates and fund utilization is scarce. Every year, the target for tree plantation increases, while there is no vacant land. Last year, the target was 22 crore trees. However, these efforts are often hasty and poorly planned, leading to the premature death of most of the saplings.

Officials make tall claims, but Uttar Pradesh's green cover is just 9 per cent, far below the national target of 33 per cent. A green activist in Agra commented, “These are paper trees that exist only in government files. The ground reality is completely different. Large-scale construction projects have wiped out greenery, leaving little space for trees. In the eco-sensitive Taj Trapezium Zone, green cover ranges from just 1.28 per cent in Mathura to 6.26 per cent in Agra.

The issue is not how many saplings are planted each year but whether they survive and thrive for at least three years. Additionally, the focus is on planting diverse species suited to local conditions to promote biodiversity.

If 25 crore saplings are to be planted at 10-foot intervals in a single day, does Uttar Pradesh even have the space for such a massive campaign? Previous attempts have shown how carelessly these campaigns are executed, with many saplings ending up in open fields or garbage dumps. Why waste money on such futile exercises?

The Yamuna and Agra-Lucknow Expressways, many Flyovers, the city's inner ring road, and the widening of the national highway to Delhi have consumed vast tracts of green land, leaving the Taj Mahal struggling against dusty winds from the Rajasthan desert.

The Supreme Court had directed the creation of green buffers to protect historical monuments from air pollution, but there has been little improvement in the Taj Trapezium Zone. Environmentalists warn that Agra's shrinking green cover is a ticking time bomb.

Since 1996, the Supreme Court has repeatedly urged authorities to accelerate efforts to control air pollution in Agra by developing green belts. Environmentalists lament that lush green forests have been replaced by concrete jungles. From Vrindavan to Agra, the Braj region once had 12 major forests. Now, only names remain. The green areas have turned black, yellow and brown, said Jagan Nath Poddar, a green activist.

The continuous construction of roads, expressways and flyovers has badly affected the greenery, especially trees. The loss of greenery has disrupted the rainfall pattern, reducing the number of rainy days in Agra.

"Agra is being ruined in the name of so-called development. The alarming decline in greenery due to bureaucratic negligence and corrupt practices will prove suicidal," warns environment activist Dr Debashish Bhattacharya. He said the growing population of monkeys was partly to blame. "Monkeys are a big problem. We plant saplings everywhere but find them uprooted the next day. "To promote green culture in the city, we also have to control the monkey population," said tree lover Chaturbhuj Tiwari.