Raipur, July 30 (ANI): Residents here attempted a record by planting over nine million trees in seven hours.

Organized by the State Government and the leading private sector companies, the drive got a positive response.

State Chief Minister Raman Singh, Brij Mohan Agarwal, Minister of Forest, Revenue and Rehabilitation were present along with other dignitaries during this function.

Raman Singh, who inaugurated the drive by planting the first tree, said, "It was decided to plant ten million trees in Raipur district. I went to two to three places and planted Pipal tree or Sacred Fig (Ficus religiosa). In other place, I planted bargad tree (banyan tree). We plan to irrigate these trees where the water is scarce. Later on, we plan to erect a fence where the trees are planted," he said.

Hundreds of school children accompanied by their teachers thronged the venue to be a part of this drive and planted lakhs of trees across 100 hectares of land.

In order to make this drive a success, the State Government had mobilized volunteers across the state and started its publicity 15 days in advance.

Thousands of saplings were distributed free of cost from the make shift tents across the state.

The world record for most trees planted in 24 hours by a team of 300 people was of 254,464 saplings and was achieved by the residents of Nagapattinam District in Tamil Nadu state on October 1-2 last year. (ANI)