LUCKNOW, May 21 -- The U.P government is gearing up for a large-scale plantation campaign during Van Mahotsav, scheduled from July 1 to 7. As part of this annual tree-planting festival, a target has been set to plant 35 crore saplings across the state. To meet this goal, over 52.33 crore saplings have been prepared in 1,901 government-run nurseries. Surplus saplings have been arranged, keeping in mind the possibility that not all planted saplings may survive due to various natural reasons, a state government spokesperson said. Department-wise plantation targets have been finalised to ensure the successful implementation of the drive. The Forest department is taking the lead in coordinating the campaign, and steps are being taken across divisions to mobilise teams and resources. Deepak Kumar, additional principal chief conservator of forests (administration), has been appointed as the mission director of the Plantation Campaign 2025. Mission director Deepak Kumar said nodal officers have been appointed for all 18 forest divisions. N Ravindra will oversee Kanpur, Ramkumar in Lucknow, and BC Brahma in Gorakhpur. Sanjay Kumar is assigned to Mirzapur, Lalit Kumar Verma to Bareilly and Moradabad, and AP Sinha to Ayodhya and Devipatan. Bhimsen will manage Meerut and Saharanpur, Sujoy Banerjee will cover Prayagraj and Varanasi, SN Mishra is in charge of Jhansi and Chitrakoot, K Ilango for Basti and Azamgarh, and HV Girish for Agra and Aligarh....