The Green Heart of Harela
Harela, which translates to the “Day of Green,” is a cornerstone of Kumaoni culture, falling on July 16 this year. It is a festival deeply connected to the rhythms of agriculture and nature, marking the onset of the sowing season and celebrating the life-giving
monsoon. Traditionally, families sow seven types of grain ten days prior, and the resulting green shoots are used in blessings, symbolising prosperity and a healthy harvest. In recent years, this intimate cultural practice has scaled up into a state-supported environmental movement, with tree plantation becoming a central public ritual. It’s a powerful idea, merging cultural heritage with ecological action to combat deforestation and climate change in a fragile Himalayan state.
A Spectacle of Numbers
The scale of these annual drives is impressive. For Harela 2026, the Uttarakhand forest department has announced plans to plant a staggering 59 lakh saplings on July 16 alone. This continues a trend of ambitious targets, with officials aiming to surpass previous records year after year. This year's drive will cover thousands of hectares across the Garhwal and Kumaon regions, with involvement from numerous government departments, schools, and local communities. The campaigns are often branded with catchy themes, such as “Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam” (A tree in mother's name), to encourage mass participation. On the surface, these numbers are a resounding success, painting a picture of a state deeply committed to greening its landscape.
The Elephant in the Forest: Survival Rates
But planting a sapling is only the first step. The true measure of success is not how many are planted, but how many survive to become mature trees. This is where the narrative of success often falters. Across India, mass plantation drives suffer from a critical lack of post-plantation care and monitoring. National audits by the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) have repeatedly highlighted that survival rates can be as low as 20-40% in many schemes. While some official reports from specific projects claim high survival rates—sometimes upwards of 80%—these are often exceptions or lack long-term, independent verification. Activists and experts consistently question the effectiveness of these drives, noting that saplings often perish within weeks or months due to heat, lack of water, or grazing.
Why Good Intentions Aren't Enough
Several factors contribute to the low survival rates. Poor site selection, planting non-native species unsuited to local conditions, and a lack of protective fencing are common issues. The most significant failure, however, is the absence of a long-term care plan. A sapling is not a one-time installation; it requires consistent watering, protection, and monitoring for at least its first few years. Without this, even the most enthusiastic one-day planting event becomes an exercise in futility. In a state like Uttarakhand, which faces immense ecological pressure from development projects and climate-induced disasters like landslides and forest fires, ensuring every planted tree survives is more critical than ever. Studies in the state have shown that traditional plantation methods can have survival rates as low as 30-40% in the hills.
The Audit We Urgently Need
This is why a mandatory, independent survival audit is not a bureaucratic hurdle but a fundamental necessity. Just as a business audits its finances to measure health, plantation drives must audit their ecological return on investment. This involves more than just a headcount. It requires geo-tagging plantation sites for transparent tracking, periodic field inspections to assess plant health, and public reporting of the findings. Officials in Uttarakhand have directed departments to upload plantation details on mobile apps for real-time monitoring, a positive step that must be institutionalised. When survival rates are a key performance indicator, the focus naturally shifts from the spectacle of planting to the sustained work of nurturing. Some state-run CAMPA (Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority) projects have shown high survival rates, but reports also admit to a widespread absence of data for older plantations, making it impossible to assess long-term success.
