Green

Coming back to the doings of GREEN, our organization let me remind you, that works on environmental issues.
Last Sunday was the beginning of one of our most ambitious ventures. We plan to plant 10,000 trees this year while the monsoon lasts. The land for this project was lent to us by The Army authorities. The programme kicked off on the 3rd August when we all went to the Army Cantonment at Sukna. The plantation this Sunday was at the banks of the Dakdakia rivulet, a tributary of the Balason. The opposite bank was thickly wooded; it is part of the Mahananda Sanctuary. We planted about 200 trees, our members and officers of the Army unit all pitched in. In this phase 2000 saplings will be planted. Subsequently we plan to plant the rest in phases. The saplings were obtained from the Forest Division of the Jalpaiguri District.
The great advantage of having the Army with us is that we can be sure that the trees will be looked after well. We hope that with their active cooperation we will be able to save up to 95% of the trees planted. If we succeed, it will be a great triumph and we will have really done something worthwhile.
It is enjoyable working with an Army unit. Their impeccable hospitality (the morning ended with a scrumptious tea at the Officers’ Mess, all the goodies fresh from the Unit’s own bakery), their punctuality and general helpfulness to smoothen out all rough edges make working at their location a breeze.
This is in direct contrast to the bureaucratic workings of the Siliguri Municipal Corporation with whose officials we have to deal with on a daily basis.
I will keep you updated on the tree planting exercise. The picture is that of one of our senior most members planting a tree. I hope a thousand children enjoy the fruit from the trees I planted for years to come!