Following worship of the Maulshri plant, the members of Gayatri Pariwar Youth Group, Kolkata launched a massive tree plantation drive at Ghat No 14 in Saptrishi area hallowed by the memory of Sant Shri Sadani, a revered saint of Pakistan, on Monday.
Those who participated in the drive said that the drive was in continuation of the weekly plantation drive launched over the past 384 Sundays. While All World Gayatri Parivar head Dr Pranav Pandya blessed the youths for drive the city mayor Manoj Garg was present as the chief guest. While lauding the youth for the exemplary drive, the mayor said that if such drives are launched across the country the green cover would deepen, bringing about a sea change in our environment.
Dr Chinmaya Pandya who was also present on the occasion said that indiscriminate felling of trees is posing a huge challenge to the survival of mankind through inflicting irreparable damage to the environment. “It is time to embark on large scale tree plantation to partly neutralise the damage. These youths are setting up sterling examples of contributing their mite to the mission of preserving environment,” he said. He also mentioned the ‘Vriksha Ganga Abhiyan’ being hosted by Shantikunj, saying that it is also inspiring the youths of the country towards the noble mission.
Ravi Sharma who came from Kolkata said that the weekly programme was underway on every Sunday since November 7, 2010 and the plantation drives are being carried out in suburb areas of Kolkata.
“On 383 consecutive Sundays, we have planted more than 40,000 trees. The 400th week would be marked by the presence of Union minister of forest and environment Dr Harshawardhan and chancellor of the DSVV University University Dr Pranav Pandya,” he said, adding that their work in this direction would continue.