Chief Minister Raman Singh appealed to the devotees to plant at least one sapling at the pilgrim sites to make them green and to increase their natural beauty. Singh said this at the ‘Pran Pratishtha’ ceremony of 21 feet high idol of lord Shiva at Kharuneshwar Mahadev temple on the banks of Kharun river in Raipur on the occasion of Maha Shivratri on Tuesday.
He said that thousands of devotees visit the temple and if each of them plants a tree then the natural beauty of the area will be multiplied. This will also provide shade to devotees during summer season. Singh paid obeisance to Kharun Mahadev with rituals and thereafter also went to Hatkeshwar temple in Raipura to perform puja.
At Kharun Mahadev temple, Singh said that the temple located on the borders of Raipur and Durg district is very beautiful and the people of entire State are blessed by lord Kharuneshwar Mahadev. He assured to provide all possible support to develop the temple as a major tourist spot. A Master Plan will be prepared for the area for the purpose and the Government will also help in development of Amleshwar village, said Singh.
PWD Minister Rajesh Munat and former Chief Minister Ajit Jogi also expressed their views on the occasion. The Kharuneshwar Mahadev temple has been constructed by Deenbandhu Singh Thakur on the land provided by Sagarmal Agrawal. It may be recalled that the Chhattisgarh government has plans to have all its river banks lined with trees during the coming years in a bid to ensure a greener State besides protecting the environment in an era of negative impact of climate change.
Chief Minister Raman Singh has provided special emphasis on saplings to be planted on the river banks , officials informed. In a flashback, during November 2014, the Central Government had given its green signal for implementation of Green India Mission in Chhattisgarh and eleven forest mandals (circles) have been chosen in the first year, officials stated.
Eighty forest management committees and villages are being linked to the Green India Mission. The forest circles are Kawardha, Bilaspur, Marwahi, Katgora, Bastar, Kanker, South Kondagaon, Raipur, North Sarguja and South Surguja. The Forest Department officers had informed that the landscape of forest mandals were demarcated. An awareness campaign, landscape survey, basic information, soil and water protection etc are undertaken during the first year.
A prospective plan worth Rs171.87 crore relating to 11 landscapes of selected forest circles was been sent to the Centre. Proposals worth Rs66.86 crore will be implemented in the first year. Chief Minister Raman Singh during the early months of 2014 had directed officials to prepare a Rs3,200-crore action plan for the next five years from the funds to be received from Centre’s ‘Campa Fund’. A Rs600-crore action plan would be prepared for each year, he said.
About Rs3,200 crore ‘State Campa Fund’ is currently available with the Central government. Singh had also directed to launch a special drive for planting trees on the sides of road from Mainpat in Surguja and Jagadalpur to Chitrakot Waterfalls. He had directed to plant only one variety of saplings on one road, with which not only the beauty of the road would be enhanced, but it would get a new identification also.