Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta announced on Wednesday, 17 June 2026 that the 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam: Delhi Mega Vriksharopan Abhiyan 2026' will be launched on 22 June 2026, targeting the plantation of 70 lakh saplings across the national capital to expand green cover and combat air pollution.

Context

Posting in Hindi on X, CM Gupta described the drive as 'ek mahatvapurn kadam' (an important step) toward ensuring a clean and healthy environment for future generations. She urged citizens to join as 'Green Warriors' in this public-participation initiative, with saplings to be supplied free of cost by the Delhi government. The campaign is pegged to the hashtag #DelhiGreenWarrior.

The announcement adapts the national Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam scheme — launched in 2024 to encourage citizens to dedicate saplings to their mothers — into a large-scale state-level afforestation drive. Several states adopted the template after the national rollout, and Delhi's 2026 edition marks the capital's most ambitious iteration yet in terms of stated sapling targets.

Policy Backdrop

Delhi has historically struggled to cross the 20 percent green cover threshold despite legal mandates and successive annual plantation drives dating back to at least 2018. Earlier campaigns set targets ranging between 5 lakh and 10 lakh saplings annually under various pollution action plans. The 70 lakh target announced for 2026 is therefore a significant scale-up from those earlier efforts.

The capital's air quality consistently ranks among the worst in the country, particularly during winter months, making afforestation a recurring policy response alongside odd-even vehicle schemes, stubble-burning negotiations with neighbouring states, and industrial emission controls. Linking tree plantation to pollution control and intergenerational equity — as CM Gupta's post explicitly does — reflects a well-established communication frame used by governments across party lines in Delhi.

Stakeholders and Impact

The drive is framed as a jan-bhaagidaari (public participation) initiative, positioning Delhi residents, Resident Welfare Associations (RWAs), and environmental non-governmental organisations as co-implementers alongside the government. By committing to supply saplings directly, the administration lowers the barrier for citizen participation and removes the cost variable that has historically limited uptake in similar campaigns.

Environmental groups and urban ecologists have in the past raised concerns about sapling survival rates in plantation drives, noting that post-monsoon audits often reveal significant attrition due to inadequate follow-up care and unsuitable species selection. The specifics of the species mix, plantation sites, and survival monitoring mechanism for the 2026 drive have not yet been disclosed by the government.

What's Next

The formal launch is scheduled for 22 June 2026, with the monsoon season providing natural timing for large-scale plantation activity. Observers will watch for the release of post-monsoon survival audit data and any revision to the 70 lakh target during the 2026-27 budget session. The success of the #DelhiGreenWarrior mobilisation campaign will also be a key indicator of whether the public-participation model translates into ground-level outcomes at the scale the government is projecting.