#Herbal forest to have ten lakh plants

Chandigarh, Jun 12 (PTI) Haryana government will plant ten lakh plants in the monsoon season at the World Herbal Forest which is being developed in the Morni Hills in Panchkula district, health minister Anil Vij said today.

These plants will include of Harad, haldi (turmeric), Beheda, Amla, Rudraksh and Arjun, he said.

Presiding over a meeting here to develop the forest, Vij said the state government, with support from Patanjali Yogpeeth in Haridwar, will develop the forest on an approximate area of 52,000 acres of land.

Around 25 different varieties of plants found in the country will be planted in the forest. In the first phase, the Forest Department will plant 50,000 plants each of 20 medicinal varieties, he said.

The minister said a joint task force of the Haryana Forest Department, Patanjali Yogpeeth and local people of Morni has been constituted to oversee smooth running of the herbal forest.