Chandigarh, June 24 -- Prioritising survival over sheer numbers, the UT administration has scaled back its plantation target to 4.19 lakh saplings for 2026-27, down from the 6.64 lakh achieved in 2025-26 after third-party monitoring found that nearly one in five saplings planted under last year's drive did not survive.

While the administration exceeded its 2025-26 target of 5.76 lakh saplings by over 15%, an overall survival rate of 79% recorded across two third-party audits in November 2025 and March 2026 pointed to gaps in maintenance and post-plantation care. "Before we set ever larger numerical targets, we need to ask whether there is actually the land and the aftercare capacity to support them," said Harminder Pal Singh, chairperson...