A couple from the State has launched a project to encourage citizens to plant saplings. Snehal Wankhade, a manager at Bank of India in Nagpur, and her husband Nikesh Jithe, a media professional in Mumbai, have started a sapling plantation service.
Ms. Wankhede said, “It was on June 5, 2016, World Environment Day, that it struck us that we should doing something for the environment and we took a pledge to start an initiative.” The couple on May 1 launched Mera India Green India project, which invites people to have saplings planted on their behalf on special occasions such as birthdays and wedding anniversaries.
Mr. Jithe said they have so far planted 60 saplings in Mahapalika Garden, Navi Mumbai, and Vaishalli Nagar, Nagpur. “The initial response has been encouraging. People have started realising that they don’t really need an occasion to plant trees.”
Ms. Wankhede said, “The donors just have to bear the cost of the sapling. We will plant it in a location of the donors’ choice and ensure that its growth is monitored and give periodic updates to the donors.”
After planting a sapling, the couple clicks pictures of it and sends it to the donors. They also intend to introduce a three-month review mechanism to keep people updated on the growth of the sapling.
Ms. Wankhede said, “I am a passionate traveller and have undertaken solo trips on my scooterette to Khardung La Pass from Delhi and Kanyakumari from Nagpur. On these trips I saw how harming the environment led to disastrous consequences. So I decided to do my bit for mother earth and began planting saplings every Sunday.”
Ms. Wankhede said it was Mr. Jithe who told her that there were people who wanted to plant saplings and contribute to the environment but were unable to do so owing to lack of time. Mr. Jithe said, “The caretakers in the gardens maintain the saplings well and we visit them once every day.”
Funding farmers
As word of their project spread on social media, requests for different types of saplings started pouring in. “We mostly focus on Indian trees such as amla, neem and peepal. We avoid planting gulmohars and niligiris owing to climatic constraints. Going forward, we plan to plant trees that have medicinal value.”
The couple also plan to plant saplings of fruit trees on behalf of farmers. The project will be funded by donors and the farmers can earn an income by selling the fruits. “We will start this project in a year,” Mr. Jethe said.
