A frail and drying mahogany sapling, housed inside a small enclosure, in Karimnagar town has officials worried. The sapling, planted as part ‘Haritha Haaram', a Telangana government scheme, is no ordinary one. It was planted by the architect of the project and the CM of Telangana K Chandrasekhar Rao.
As officials were trying to decide how best to save the sapling, the Karimnagar police filed a case against eight unidentified persons on Saturday, for damaging the sapling.
The sapling was planted by the CM on the bund of Mir Minair dam in Karimnagar, in July.
The case was registered based on a complaint by the watchman, K Suresh.
After KCR planted the sapling on July 12, a tree guard and a supervisor was appointed to care for the sapling, according to Bangalore Mirror.
Suresh alleges that eight youths had tried to meddle with the plant on the night of September 9 which may have resulted in the sapling drying up, Bangalore Mirror reported.
Karimnagar II town, Inspector, Mahesh told TNM, “We have filed a case under sections 447 (criminal trespass), 427 (playing mischief) and 506 (criminal intimidation) against eight unidentified persons. The watchman said that he cannot remember their faces. We visited the site and the preliminary investigation suggests that there has been an attempt to pull out the sapling. But the investigation is still underway.”
Through ‘Telangana ku Haritha Haaram', the state aims to increase the forest cover in the state.
Recently, Forests and Environment Minister, Jogu Ramanna said that the survival ratio of the saplings planted in Karimnagar was 67 per cent in the last two years. He added that the 80-90 per cent of saplings survived, as they were watered three to four times.