Puri Gajapati Maharaja Dibyasingha Deb on Monday urged upon people to plant trees from now so that the need of timber for making of Raths of the Shree Jagannath Temple would be met in coming years.
“Timber is needed every year for construction of three chariots for the Rath Yatra. It was not a problem in the past as Odisha had a large forest cover, but now it has become a difficult proposition,” the Gajapati king said while addressing a State-level conference on the issue jointly organized by the SOA University and the ‘Prerana’, an NGO working for protection of environment and forests.“Suggestions have even come for construction of permanent metallic chariots to do away with the need for timber, and the thinking is still persisting,” he said.He said though the Government have already launched the ‘Shree Jagannath Vana Prakalpa’ to ensure availability of trees like ‘Fasi’, yet people’s cooperation in planting such trees in their own backyards is also needed.
Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Dharmendra Pradhan lauded the endeavour of ‘Prerana’ for protection of environment. He said that Odisha’s economy was intrinsically linked to its environment.