With the support of leading automobile manufacturers and dealers of the city and the Forest Department, the Regional Transport Office (RTO), Bhubaneswar launched a “One Vehicle, One Plant” campaign on Thursday in which a plant would be given free at the time of delivery of a new vehicle from the showroom.
Bhubaneswar-II Regional Transport Officer Sanjay Kumar Behera said that as the automobile industry is a major contributor of pollution of the environment, the campaign would help control the heat and pollution.
Mentioning that around 8,000 vehicles are registered every month in Bhubaneswar and around one lakh vehicles in a year, he urged the manufacturers and especially dealers to give a sapling with every new vehicle to the owners and ask them to take its care as they take care for their vehicle for years. He also urged people to ask the dealers for a sapling while they buy a vehicle.
Varieties of saplings including baula (spanish cherry or bullet wood), champa (plumeria), jamun (black plum), guava, neem and karanj (pongamia) would be available being provided by the Odisha Calling Foundation in the showrooms and the customers can take home any sapling of their choice, Behera said.
He said that along with the registration documents, the dealers would also give a document in which the buyers and the dealers would take oath that they would take care of the plants.
Maruti Suzuki Bhubaneswar dealer Washim Ahmed Khan said it is a welcome step taken by the RTO and it is like giving a new life with every new vehicle.