Chief Minister Hemant Soren on Tuesday launched a special campaign, a brain child of Jharkhand State Pollution Control Board chairman Mani Shankar, near the Bio Diversity Park in Namkum.
The special drive for planting 16 lakh saplings in the State is being backed by the State Forest & Environment department and several private and public sector companies. As many as 15,000 students of government and private schools in addition to 1,000 army jawans participated in the event to mark Harit Diwas and touted by officials as the only event of its type in the country.
Inaugurating the mega event, the Chief Minister said "the ill-effects of formulating a development model is in front of us, so, we need to understand the power that nature wields, if ignored." Sharing his concern to save nature, Soren emphasised the need to protect trees besides planting them. The Forest department must ensure that trees are planted and protected too, he added. Realising the need for bringing people on board for restoring the lost green cover, the Chief Minister appealed to the people of the State to plant one sapling each and protect it the way one protects one's children. To encourage students who volunteered on this historic moment, he announced that "award will be given to the children for nurturing the saplings." The award is likely to be given on the next Harit Diwas by the department of Forest & Environment.
Significantly, Soren took note of disfiguring of trees by pasting posters or putting a nail in a tree and warned those using trees to further their business interests. He deplored such acts and expressed the resolve of his government to punish people for causing damage to the environment. "Government will ban putting up posters or putting nails on the trees and will make penal provisions in this regard," maintained Soren.
On the occasion, Union Minister of State for Urban Development Deepa Dashmunshi also planted trees and urged the people to make the State green. Interestingly, the department of Forest & Environment has vowed to replace all dying saplings. The department has also expressed its desire to provide assistance for maintaining the saplings. Notably, the assistance will be based on the number of saplings surviving at the time of seeking assistance.
The event has got support from industry that is often accused of putting aside environmental concerns for making profits. Companies representing industries- steel, power plants, mines and rice mills- have also been roped in to plant 2 lakh saplings on the day.
"We have mobilized private and public sector companies to plant 10.92 lakh trees", claimed Mani Shankar who thinks that the Uttarakhand-like disaster can be prevented by giving boost to the green movement across the country.