Patna, Aug 7 (IANS): Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and his deputy Sushil Kumar Modi on Monday tied rakhis to trees here and urged people to protect the state's green cover.

Clad in his usual white cotton kurta-pyjama, Nitish Kumar said: "It is a symbolism to protect trees to increase the green cover. It is important for the environment."

He said from 2001 he has been tying rakhis to trees to spread the message. "In the last few years, Bihar's green cover has increased. It is a positive change."

The Chief Minister said people have to join hands for a new beginning to save the Earth and its inhabitants.

Nitish Kumar said his government had initiated the green drive to improve the state's forest cover from nearly nine per cent to 17 per cent. Undivided Bihar had a forest cover of 17 per cent.

He reminded the people that Bihar had lost most of its green cover when Jharkhand was carved out of it in 2000. "We target 15 per cent green cover by the end of 2017."

Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi also tied a long cotton rakhi to the trunk of a tree in a garden here.

"All of us should plant at least one tree and protect it," he said.

Many leaders from the ruling Janata Dal-United and its ally the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), government officials and school children also took part in the initiative.