As many as 250 saplings were planted on Wednesday at various barren stretches of Badvel town as part of a citizen-driven initiative to plant 15,000 saplings in 100 days. Revenue Divisional Officer A. Venkataramana offered all support on behalf of the government to this initiative.
The little town is all set to go green with the resolve exhibited by its people. Under the hashtag #GreenBadvel, the residents have currently embarked on a special tree plantation drive running for 100 days in phases. The idea is to plant 15,000 saplings at various localities in the town and protect them for the first three months. Tree guards are being installed around the saplings.
It started in 2019 with “BadvelGallery,” an Instagram page, giving a call to the public to plant saplings and share those pictures to get a mention on it. “Later, we mobilised sponsorship funds in 2020 and planted 160 saplings”, says BadvelGallery page creator Syed Wasim, a Bengaluru-based software employee, now working from Badvel as part of ‘Work From Home’.
After Badvel became a revenue divisional headquarters last year, the first RDO, Mr. Venkataramana, saw a greater need to clean up the town. It was then he offered to rope in the village and ward secretariats for the project. The secretaries are required to identify vacant lands in their respective wards where saplings can be planted.
During the current drive, saplings are planted near the Idgah, CSI church, Saibaba temple and Seelamvaripalle localities.
