Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Monday said over Rs 2,008 crore had been spent on 'Haritha Haram' programme and the details pertaining to the expenditure will be placed before the State Assembly within a week.
The Chief Minister said that in the past three years about 82 crore saplings were planted across the state against the targeted 230 crore saplings by 2019.
These saplings were being raised in 3,000 nurseries in the state.
"Except for a few thousand fruit-bearing plants to be supplied to people for raising in homes, the remaining saplings were raised and distributed through government nurseries," he said.
Taking a dig at the previous governments' commitment in saving forest lands and increasing green cover in Telangana, he said, "Only Rs 130 crore was spent by the forest department from 2004 to 2014. This apart, vast forest lands were encroached and occupied across the state due to the negligence of the previous governments."
"The forests along the Godavari belt and Adilabad, lots of green cover in the state had vanished. The need of the hour is to increase green cover and save forests in the state for the benefit of future generations," he pointed out.