Thursday 5 June 2014

Celebrating World Environment Day (WED),2014 in Kannauj (U.P.)

It was a truly memorable day .With mercury crossing 45 degrees C , we witnessed over ten thousand villagers assemble at a completely uninhabited .barren  place ,where the forest department of Uttar Pradesh  has taken up a project to plant 1,12,500 plants in an area of 450 acres.The place is village Rausa,Block Haseran .District Kannauj of Uttar Pradesh.It is an usar  land , owned by forest department ,but had been encroached by  villagers.With the active support of District administration ,the department got the encroachment removed , and has so far (June5,2014) planted 41000 plants .
                        The chief guest was the Chief Minister of U.P. and the guest of honour was the Magsaysay award winner Sri Rajendra Singh(Jal Purush).The chief guest planted a Peepal plant ,18 feet high and the guest honour  planted a Neem plant, about 14 feet high.We in the forest department have resolved to plant 1,12,500 plants by June 30,2014.
                                The theme of WED ,as decided by UNEP is :Raise your voice,not the sea level. Raise your voice to keep the environment clean .Raise your voice against the polluters.Plant more trees.Do not do any thing which contributes to global warming ,responsible for the melting of snow in polar regions and for raising the sea level.
                   Sharing the event with the common villagers and with celebrities and the chief minister of the state, it was a true celebration , uplifting,inspiring  and motivating .I will never be able to forget the expectant and enthusiastic faces of the common villagers (mostly poor),who came all the way in scorching ,searing heat of Indian Summer, to hear the celebrities and to witness plantation and the WED celebration .

2 comments:

Rahul Dutta said...

I wonder if June is a good month to plant new plants/trees. I remember such an exercise was conducted in the Bundelkhand a few years back without achieving the results.

Vidya Nand Garg said...

It is all a matter of assuring water for irrigation .In this case , we have provided 20 borewells for irrigation/supply of water.If it were not so , and it were dependent only on rains , then June would not be a good month.Incidentally ,we successfully planted 100 acres in Kishni block of Mainpuri last year , and it has survived .