In a bid to ensure healthy green cover in the city, residents in Uttar Pradesh’s Noida will now be able to register their plants through a mobile application ’15 August: Plantation 9 crore’. This application will allow people to register themselves along with the details of the saplings that they have planted. The users also have to submit a photograph of the plant for geotagging. Once it gets registered, it will be the responsibility of the state government to monitor the plants. The application can be downloaded from the Google Play Store for free.
Geographical tagging is the process of adding geographical identification data to any fixed object. This data which consists of latitude and longitude coordinates can be used to trace geotagged item and monitor them through satellites.
The app was launched on August 15 and officials say that around 6 lakh saplings were planted as a part of a massive afforestation drive. Apart from monitoring the registered trees, the app will help government officials to verify the authenticity of plantation drives, reports PTI
Meanwhile, New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) on Saturday geo-tagged 10,000 saplings that it had planted during a green campaign. NDMC chairman Naresh Kumar called it the world’s first tree plantation drive where saplings will be monitored through geotagging and blockchain technology.
However, experts suggest that the practice of geotagging trees will come with its own set of hurdles as it will require adequate manpower and technical expertise. “We are already running short of staff. If we are required to geo-tag each and every tree and handle the data of lakhs of trees, we will need a separate directorate,” a senior forest official told Hindustan Times.
