Our beloved planet is changing before our eyes. Sea level is rising due to melting of glaciers thanks to adverse climatic change and oceans are becoming hotter. People across the globe are reeling under natural disasters like flood, drought, heat waves and forest fire. No wonder, at the ongoing climate change conference in UK, the world leaders are emphasising on limiting the global warming not more than 1.5 degree Celsius.
But this goal is certainly not achievable without expanding the green cover on the earth. While thousands of activists, cutting across national boundaries and cultures, are working relentlessly for a greener planet, back home, we have our warriors who have chipped in to accomplish this mission. This week, a few of them tell Sunday POST about their goals and motivation.
40,000 trees planted and counting
Like many others, age is just a number for Antaryami Sahu too. At the age of 75, he never feels tired of planting trees. He is a true worshipper of nature and an environmentalist in a true sense. For him nature is God and God is nature. Wherever he sees a barren patch, he takes out seeds from his bag and sows them on the soil. Be it Sunday or any work days, Sahu, who is fondly called Gachha Sir in his locality, makes it a point to plant trees every day.
“Nature has bestowed her choicest blessings on all living beings. Therefore, we have a duty towards Nature. Protect nature; protect everything created by God, for posterity,” says the retired schoolteacher. “We should give something to nature in return for her service to mankind, ” he tells everybody he comes across.
It all started when he was studying in Class-VI in 1962. He found there were no big trees in his village where one could take shelter. It was then he planted a banyan tree. Now the gigantic tree has become a resting place for both animals and human beings providing cool shade throughout the year. After that there was no looking back. He has so far transformed hectares of wasteland into a green canopy.
Sahu’s day begins at 5am. After finishing his daily chores, he leaves home on his cycle with a bagful of saplings, seeds and a spade. He sets out on a mission to plant as many trees as possible during a day. Be it heavy downpour, peak of summer or chilling winter, they have hardly affected him in his mission.
This retired teacher has so far planted a staggering 40,000 trees and has become an inspiration for villagers as well as for his students. “I have dedicated my life to the service of trees and animals,” says the septuagenarian.
He says, the need to save forests is more now than before with more trees are being sacrificed thanks to mindless industrialization. When the government clears forests to set up housing projects, factories, shopping malls, amusement parks, and other infra projects, it unfortunately doesn’t bother for the animals that once lived there. It is the need of the hour to conserve the biodiversity, adds the retired teacher.
“Every year the government events are held to mark World Environment Day. Though some of the decisions taken at such programmes are executed in urban areas, they are hardly implemented in rural pockets. When there is a rise in global temperature, maintaining ecosystem is very important. Therefore, I urge people to leave some flowers for the insects while they pluck flowers to present them to gods. There are many animals and insects who depend on trees of local variety, their seeds and flowers for their survival,” he further says.
Due to the lackadaisical mindset of the government, Sahu mostly prefer to plant some indigenous trees only for the sake of such animals.
Five forests in 5 years
Concerned over global warming and its impact on climate, a group of committed youths of Brahmana Sailo in Cuttack district have been working round-the-clock to create green cover in their areas to mitigate the impact of adverse climatic change.
Talking about the club’s formation, its member Rajendra Mohapatra says, “Earlier we used to celebrate Ganesh Puja and Saraswati Puja with fanfare. Soon, we realised that youth are the true changemakers of the society and there is a need to do something exceptional than celebrating the Pujas. And we couldn’t have undertaken a better initiative than creating forests in the neighborhood. One of our members donated Rs 2,000 for the cause and the mission took off. We bought 500 saplings and planted them along the roadside. Planting saplings was not a big task but taking their proper care wasn’t easy. We formed a WhatsApp group of 45 members and entrusted responsibilities to preserve the plants. Thanks to our efforts, all the saplings have grown into big trees now. It was Kishore Kumar Routray who should be given credit for coming up with the idea of creating forest instead of celebrating religious festivals.”
The members didn’t stop by just planting trees on the road side. They extended the project to a nearby barren land known as Safei Padia at Balikhama. “It was really a challenge to grow vegetation on a patch of infertile land. But we didn’t lose hope. The hard work paid off. After a few months, the saplings not only survived, they grew into become a mini forest.”
Soon after, the club members successfully created more forests – at the rear of Panchayat Girls’ School, near village Thakurani temple, near Pokhari Huda and at a barren land at Kantapada – in the last five years after fencing the areas. They also continued with their road side plantation projects.
Significantly, the members are taking up one project after another without the support of any government or private agencies. They took it as a challenge in 2017 to do their bit to restore ecological equilibrium in their locality which was adversely affected by natural disasters.
“We feel that not too many people aware of the benefits of plantation. Educating and mobilising the local communities and conducting community-afforestation drives through us will be primary on our agenda”, says club’s president Bikash Ranjan Mohanty.
Secretary Abhijeet Patnaik says, “A very few youth are interested in creating forests and safeguarding nature. Our so-called intellectuals seem least interested in bringing a positive change and making the world a better place to live. I would like to thank the whole group for working selflessly for the cause.”
Another member of the club Prafulla Mohanty says, “Social media played an important role in highlighting our work following which youth of nearby villages also took up the cause and started doing their bit for nature. We are looking into creating more such rural forests in the coming days.”
Barren riverbank turns rural forest
Gyana Ranjan Panda from Cuttack started planting trees at a very young age. However he got his motivation from Paradip-based Amaresh Naresh Samanta, an assistant engineer at Paradip Port Trust. Samanta has been planting trees for over two decades and has built nearly 20 rural forests. After joining a public sector unit in Nayagarh, he geared up for the cause with the help of his friends.
“I was immensely motivated and inspired by Amresh Naresh Samanta, Nayagarh-based Gachha sir and Soumya Ranjan Biswal of Astaranga who is spearheading a campaign for the protection of Olive Ridleys. All three are my idols as they have been doing their bit for the environment for decades selflessly. After joining job at Nayagarh, I managed to befriend with some local guys and with their help I have been carrying out plantation drives. We started with a hygiene campaign at Budha Budhiani dam. Though people throng the site to unwind, they don’t bother about the trash they left behind. We sensitised the picnickers to clean the place littered by them before leaving the site. Besides, we have created a rural forest on the bank of the Kusumi river. It was a barren land earlier. The place is now enveloped by dense green cover due to our endeavour. It was possible because of team efforts.”
Gyana and his team also raised a mango orchard at Badaput village. Unfortunately, it has lost its glory due to forest fire. But that didn’t dent their spirit as they have transformed a barren playground into a mini forest after fencing the areas.”
A peep into the past
It is quite fascinating to learn that Indian emperor Ashoka, also known as Ashok The Great, the third monarch of the Mauryan dynasty who ruled during 3rd Century BCE, was quite conscious about conservation of forests and wildlife protection. He had enforced laws to safeguard forests and wildlife. In the preserved edicts that talk about his constitution, it is stated that during his reign there were restrictions in place to burn chaff and hunt certain wild animals. It further says that Ashoka was the one who had introduced mangroves trees, added medicinal fauna to the local biodiversity and constructed ponds to help maintain the micro-climate. He also put ban on slaughtering of four-footed animals, states one of the edicts.
Rashmi Rekha Das,OP