This time the World Environment Day will go green with the top sports stars of the country. The array includes cricketers Sachin Tendulkar, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, tennis player Sania Mirza and badminton player Saina Nehwal who will spread the message of clean and green environment in the country.
In a Press meet on Wednesday, the Environment Minister Prakash Javadekar said that the day will kickstart with Prime Minister Narendra Modi planting a sapling in his official residence at 7, RCR, on June 5.
On the evening of June 5, cricketers Sachin Tendulkar, Ajinkya Rane and Rohit Sharma, along with Javadekar and Maharashtra State Minister Vinod Tawde and others will plant saplings in Mumbai at Joggers Park on Carter Road.
Cricketers Yusuf Pathan and Irfan Pathan will join Ministers and other local leaders in planting saplings in Vadodara. In Indore, Narendra Hirwani, Sanjay Jagdale and Gopal Sharma will join urban administration and state ministers of Madhya Pradesh in the plantation campaign.
The Indian Cricket team, along with BCCI Secretary Anurag Thakur, will participate in a plantation drive in Kolkata on June 6. Cricketer MS Dhoni will plant saplings in his home town in Ranchi.
Boxing personalities Mary Kom and Sarita Devi, billiards player Geet Sethi and hockey player Viren Rasquinha have also offered to support the campaign and will also plant saplings as per their presence on June 5.
Javadekar also said, a new pilot project on Urban Forestry will be launched in Pune on June 6. Seventy acres of forest land in the city has been identified and about 4,000 trees will be planted on it. This project will be run through public participation in the form of a Memorial Garden.
The Ministry has written to all Chief Ministers and Corporations to identify forest lands in urban areas, particularly in cities to develop forest. He informed of the proposed project, Nagar Van Udyan Yojna (Urban Forest Plan) where fruit bearing and other trees will be planted. This will be financed through CAMPA funds.