OREANDA-NEWS. For the year 2014-15, a target of plantation of 75 lakh saplings has been fixed by the Indian Railways and till October 2014, about 45 lakh saplings have been planted on approximately 1548 hectares of Railway land.

In pursuance of Railways commitment towards environmental improvement through afforestation and also with a view to safeguard Railway land against unauthorized occupation, Railways undertake tree plantation on a programmed basis in a manner so as to not affect the visibility of track and safe operations of trains. Vacant Railway land is generally in the form of thin strips along the track. About 44000 hectares of land was under afforestation as on 31.03.2014.

This information was given by the Minister of State for Railways Shri Manoj Sinha in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.