Goa, July 29 -- ANIL KUMAR MISHRA

World Nature Conservation Day, ob served globally on July 28 every year, is meant to celebrate efforts to protect and restore the environment. In Goa, however, it raises an un comfortable question - where are the 10 lakh trees the government promised to plant? Fifty-three days into the Goa government's 90 day tree-planting sprint, there is still no clarity on how many saplings have actually been planted. As the September 5 dead line for the State's 'Green Goa, Clean Goa' campaign draws closer, the only official figure available remains 3,200 saplings planted on World Environ ment Day, June 5, when the campaign was launched - and silence ever since.

No update, no interim tally toward the 10 lakh trees Ch...