The saplings planted in Vijayapur since 2016 have increased the district’s green cover from the earlier 0.17 percent to the current 2.4 percent. | Photo credit: Special arrangement
Divya, who moved from Manda to Vijayapura more than 10 years ago when her husband got a post there, had a tough time coping with the hot weather and dusty environment.
She wanted to move because she often faced problems like nosebleeds due to high temperature. But now he feels that Vijayapura is “tolerable” and that there has been some positive change in the weather.
Like Divya, a large number of local people feel that there has been some positive change in the environment. A ‘green revolution’ of sorts has been unleashed in Vijayapur, marking a significant increase in green cover as more than 1.5 million saplings have been planted in various parts of the district over the past nine years. This process has been sustainable because it involves not only the government, but different organizations and people from different walks of life.
A significant increase
The initiative has increased the forest cover of this district from the earlier 0.17% to 2.40% of the total area, said Vijayapura district in-charge minister MB Patil, who spearheaded the campaign.
“Following this initiative, Vijayapura has secured third place in the country for good air quality. The groundwater level has increased and soil fertility has improved. The average temperature has dropped by 0.5°C, while the annual rainfall has increased from 550 mm to about 650 mm. Also, the number of rainy days in the district has increased from 20 to 30 days a year to nearly 400 days a year.”
A new goal
Encouraged by this, he said, a new target has now been set to plant an additional 3.5 million saplings by 2030 to bring the total number of plants to 5 million.
“When I was the district in-charge minister in the previous term (around 2015), during a meeting of the Karnataka Development Project, a topic related to forest cover came up and I casually asked the forest officials about the national, state average and position of Vijayapura with respect to forest cover. I was informed that Vijayapura’s forest cover has a meager forest cover of 0.17% against the national average of 0.17% at 20% in some states Shocked, I started thinking seriously about increasing the green cover,” says Mr. Patil.
The arid state of the district, despite the fact that it is the territory of five rivers, was one of the reasons for the low forest cover. However, the district has received about 85 tmcft of Krishna waters and water has started reaching most of the farmers’ fields in the command areas due to the completion of some pending works. With this, several reservoirs were filled, which helped to improve the groundwater level.
Taking advantage of the availability of water, the ‘Koti Vruksha Abhiyan’ (crore sapling campaign) was launched in 2016 through the district administration.
It was originally planned to plant 10,000,000 seedlings per year for five years, and 165 plant varieties were selected to suit local conditions. It soon became a grassroots movement as more than 20 organizations became part of it and ordinary people, including farmers, came together.
The highlight of this initiative is that the saplings were not only planted in challenging terrain but their survival was ensured by installing a solar powered drip irrigation system.
Published – 10 Nov 2025 21:05 IST
