Chandigarh, February 18 With an aim to plant over a million trees in the city this year, UT Administrator Gen S F Rodrigues (retd) today launched a plantation drive at Saketri village. He also released Green Chandigarh Action Plan ' 2008. Stating that Chandigarh has a green cover of 35.6 per cent, Rodrigues stressed on the need to make the city greener by planting maximum number of trees possible. The Green Action Plan released by the Administrator stated that during the year 2007-08, 14,9723 saplings were planted against the target of 10,9170 in the Union Territory. Besides planting 10 lakh saplings in the Union Territory, 25,000 sapling of trees, shrubs and herbs will also be distributed free of cost by the Forest Department apart from distribution and selling of 15,000 saplings of ornamental, flowering and fruit trees by the horticulture wing. Special steps have been suggested in the report for post-planting care and control of pests through effective measures. On the occasion, Rodrigues said that a world-class aquarium was being set up near Sukhna Lake as a part of the administration's strategies to add eco-friendly features at Sukhna Catchment Area. He emphasised on the need of incorporating afforestation and environmental planning programmes in all educational institutions and integrating them with the academic curriculum. The Administrator said that the vacant spaces in the Union Territory, especially in education institutions must be identified for planting flowering trees to add to the glory of the city. He appealed all municipal councillors, members of various NGOs and school students to join hands and actively participate in the environmental conservation programmes for maintaining ecological balance and livelihood security. UT Advisor Pradip Mehra, while highlighting the ill affects of pollution, emphasised on the need of increasing forest area and undertaking massive plantation on the un-utilised and left out patches. Mehra also underlined the role of educational institutions in generating awareness for this campaign.