Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], July 6 (ANI): Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday said the state currently has 10 per cent forest cover, and the aim of the government is to have 16 per cent of forest cover in the state.

'The campaign 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam' that we started in alignment with the Prime Minister's vision on World Environment Day - June 5, 2025, is achieving new heights of success. On June 29, this campaign moved ahead, and on July 9, it will achieve a new height when 37 crore saplings will be planted across Uttar Pradesh... I am happy that the 210 crore tree plantation programs were successfully completed in 8 years. We now have 10% forest cover. We should aim for 16% of forest cover in Uttar Pradesh, which will equal the country's 16% population living in the state,' CM Yogi Adityanath said.

He further said that PM Modi has decided that India will achieve the target of Net Zero in Carbon Emissions, and the government has made several transformations in this regard.

In 2017, when we had to conduct a plantation drive, we could hardly obtain five crore saplings from the nurseries of the forest department. In 2025, we have 52 crore saplings - and are not of Eucalyptus or Popular but neem, mango, peepal,' he said.

'I am happy that PM Modi's campaign to protect the environment by planting saplings - under 'Ek ped maa ke naam' campaign has been successful and to give it a newer heights, on July 9, a record number of saplings - over 37 crore will be planted in a single day,' he added.

Earlier, CM Yogi paid floral tribute to Bharatiya Jana Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee on his 125th birth anniversary.

Addressing the event in Lucknow, CM Yogi remembered Mookerjee's contributions as an educationist and his service during the Bengal famine in 1943.'It is the 125th birth anniversary of Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee today. On behalf of the people of the state, I pay tribute to him today. Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee was born on 6th July 1901. At the age of 33, he became the youngest Vice Chancellor of Calcutta University. He was a great educationist and freedom fighter. The country remembers the service he did during the Bengal famine,' CM Yogi said. (ANI)