Delhi, by next year, will bear a greener look as the government has decided to develop nine new forest cities in its vicinity. JK Dadoo, environment secretary, has stated that about 220 hectares of land located to the east, northwest and southwest districts of the city have been selected under this project.

Mr Dadoo said, 'As part of our CLEAN India campaign, we have planned to develop nine forest cities this year which will be in addition to the 23 existing cities in Delhi.' The CLEAN in the CLEAN India campaign stands for Community Led Environment Action Network. Officials involved with this campaign inform that they planted 1.8 million saplings last year and the same target has been set for this year too.

Mr Dadoo remarked that the past two years saw the forest cover in the national capital increase significantly. He added that a good monsoon this year is a welcome feature amidst talks of global warming. The environment secretary further said that Delhi's total forest cover upped from 26 sq km in 1998 to 300 sq km in 2008. The proposed nine forest cities project is slated to bring 33 per cent more area under forest cover.