Municipal Administration Minister S.P. Velumani and members of various industrial associations offered their support to ‘Cauvery Calling’, an agroforestry initiative by Isha Foundation, at an event held here on Tuesday.
“Isha Yoga Centre is in my constituency and I am aware of their outreach activities,” said Mr. Velumani. He assured Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, founder of Isha Foundation, that the State government would facilitate the implementation of the agroforestry initiative along River Cauvery, according to a press release.
R. Ramamurthy, president of Coimbatore District Small Industries Association, M. Krishnan, chairman and managing director of Sri Krishna Sweets, and S. Rajasekaran, Director, Ganga Medical Centre and Hospitals, felicitated Mr. Vasudev. Representatives of over 30 industrial associations were present at the event held at Codissia Trade Fair Complex.
A bike rally led by Mr. Vasudev from Talacauvery in Karnataka covered 3,080 km and arrived at the event venue with volunteer riders. While Dr. Rajasekaran pledged 5,000 tree saplings for the initiative, Mr. Ramamurthy said that the initiative would succeed as its model was “economically attractive” for the farmers, the release said.
B.K. Krishnaraj Vanavarayar, chairman of Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, appreciated the audience turnout in support of the initiative during his speech.
Mr. Vasudev said that lakhs of farmers had committed suicide in the past two decades. “Unless we make living on the land very lucrative, nobody will want to live here,” he said. He thanked the team of 59 riders who participated in the rally and the police in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka for their cooperation from the beginning of the rally in Talacauvery on September 3, according to the release.
