Union Environment Minister Bhupender Yadav on Tuesday, July 7, 2026, highlighted the launch of Delhi's 70-lakh sapling plantation campaign at Central Ridge and Nanakpura Ridge, inaugurated by Union Home and Cooperation Minister Amit Shah as part of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's nationwide 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam' (One Tree in Mother's Name) initiative.

Context

Yadav, sharing details of the event on X, described the campaign as more than a tree-plantation programme — calling it 'ek rashtriya sankalp', a national resolve to fulfil humanity's responsibility toward nature and to secure a green, healthy future for coming generations. He added that each sapling planted is a symbol of respect for the earth and commitment to environmental protection.

Residents of Delhi can now book online slots to participate in the drive and plant saplings as part of this large-scale effort. Yadav urged citizens to join the jan andolan (people's movement) and commit not just to planting, but to nurturing each sapling until it grows into a full tree.

Policy Backdrop

The 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam' campaign was launched by Prime Minister Modi on World Environment Day 2024, designed to mobilise citizens across states to plant and care for trees in honour of their mothers, framing afforestation as a personal and patriotic act. The Delhi chapter of the drive targets the planting of saplings across the capital's protected ridge forests, which serve as the city's historic green lungs.

The campaign sits within a broader policy lineage that includes the Green India Mission under the National Action Plan on Climate Change (2008), which set national targets for expanding forest and tree cover through community participation. India's annual Van Mahotsav tree-planting festival, initiated in 1950, also forms part of this tradition of government-led afforestation drives.

At the international level, India's afforestation commitments align with obligations under the Paris Agreement and the Bonn Challenge, both of which require measurable increases in forest cover as part of nationally determined contributions to climate action.

Stakeholders and Impact

Delhi's ridge forests — including Central Ridge and Nanakpura Ridge — are protected reserved forest areas that have faced pressure from rapid urbanisation. Large-scale plantation drives in these zones are intended to restore green cover and improve the capital's persistently poor air quality.

The introduction of an online slot-booking system for citizen participation represents a step toward making the campaign more accessible and measurable. Urban forestry agencies and local government bodies are the primary implementing stakeholders, with the success of the drive depending on both institutional coordination and sustained public engagement beyond the planting event itself.

What's Next

Attention will now turn to the rollout of the online participation platform across Delhi and to monitoring sapling survival rates after the 2026 monsoon planting season — a critical metric that has historically determined the real-world impact of such campaigns. State-level expansion of similar online booking systems to other cities could follow if the Delhi model demonstrates measurable results.

With Amit Shah's personal inauguration lending political weight to the drive, the campaign is positioned as a flagship urban greening effort ahead of the monsoon, and its outcomes are likely to inform the broader national rollout of 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam' targets for 2026.