Haridwar, May 18 (IANS): A spiritual group based here has launched a massive green drive in the country and has already planted 35 lakh trees and saplings, a spokesperson said Friday.

The Gayatri Parivar has also created groups of "green friends" and specifically tasked them with the responsibility of looking after the new plantations.

The drive that began in November 2011 has covered Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Uttarakhand, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir, the spokesperson told IANS.

One area in Gujarat now chosen for this campaign is Sooi, a village in Kutch region and very close to the Pakistan border.

"We realised that there was an urgent need for everyone to halt the destruction to green life caused by so-called development," he said.

"We also realised that it was not just enough to plant trees and saplings. So we created groups of men and women who will look after them with dedication."

The Gayatri Parivar, founded by the late Pandit Shri Ram Sharma Acharya, is based in this Hindu holy town and promotes the spread of the highly revered Gayatri Mantra.

As part of the campaign, the spokesperson said, 18 hillocks in and around Burhanpur as well as similar terrain in Ranchi in Jharkhand and in Balsad in Gujarat have been chosen to turn them green.

In Kolkata, trees are being planted every Sunday.

"Our nationwide target is one crore trees. We will meet the target, no matter how much time it takes," the spokesperson said.

Among the varieties chosen for plantation are tulsi, neem and banyan trees.