Ashok Leyland, flagship of the Hinduja group and India’s leading commercial vehicle manufacturer, celebrated ‘World Forestry Day’ on Monday.

Recognising the value of forests, Ashok Leyland has worked to increase forest cover while also preserving and rehabilitating existing lakes and other flora and fauna.

Speaking on the occasion, N V Balachander, chief sustainability officer and president – Communications, CSR and corporate affairs said that, the company has been on a tree planting campaign to increase the amount of green space in and around its various facilities.

“Ashok Leyland has planted a total of 7.35 lakh trees thus far and has built 17 artificial rain water harvesting ponds with a capacity of 2.54 lakh kilolitres to maintain the green cover and assure continuous water supply to them,” he said.

Also, a constant monitoring of the forests and survival rate is carried out in collaboration with the forest department to guarantee that the green cover is appropriately planted and safeguarded, he added.

Further adding, Balachander said that forests are a vital component of life on earth and are essential for preserving environmental balance.

“We at Ashok Leyland have taken various initiatives over the years to increase our green cover with a goal to create a ‘factory inside a forest',” he said, adding that they have successfully adopted the Miyawaki technique of afforestation, creating a cumulative of 20 multilayer dense forests in our establishments which will pave the way for a greener and cleaner future.

Ashok Leyland has also undertaken initiatives for lake and river restoration in Hosur, Pantnagar, Alwar, and plants.