How many saplings can you or your family and friends plant in one hour? Well, under the Green India Challenge, people of Telangana have planted one million saplings in one hour! This aggressive plantation drive has set a new world record. It was done in 200 acres in Adilabad area.
The feat is likely to be included in the Guiness book of World Records. This drive has broken record of Turkey, where people had planted 3.03 lakh saplings in 2019.
This amazing event was led by Telangana Rashtra Samiti Rajya Sabha MP J Santosh Kumar.
More than 30,000 TRS members and locals participated in the plantation drive. The drive also saw the presence of Forest and Environment Minister of Telangana A Indra Karan Reddy, who marked his birthday with this outstanding event.
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How it was done
A minimum of 5 lakh saplings were planted in the degenerated forest area sprawled in an area of more than 200 acres. The planting method used the Miyawaki model.
What is Miyawaki model?
Miyawaki model involves planting 2-4 trees per square meter. Under this model, as per reports, forests grow within 2-3 years and are found to be self-sustaining. The trees effectively keep the temperatures lower in islands of concrete heat; they decrease noise and air pollution; they attract local insects and birds and create carbon sinks.
What are carbon sinks?
Carbon sinks are areas, such as an ocean or a forest, that possess the ability to absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere. The areas store or accumulate carbon-containing compounds for an infinite period and help to lower CO2 concentration from the atmosphere.
Carbon sinks can be natural and man-made.
Forest and Environment Ministers’ words
The minister, while speaking to eminent media, said that the Coronavirus pandemic had made people more aware about the importance of saving forests and the environment.
Prior to the event, MP Santosh Kumar had appealed to the people to make this a grand event. "Mother Nature is where our survival is completely dependent upon. Corona has caused immense damage to the environment and we learnt how important is to conserve our natural resources in the last two years. I urge everyone of you to be a part of Green India Challenge. Join hands by planting three saplings and nominating three others to take this forward," he said.
About Green India Challenge
Green India Challenge was created by TRS MP Santosh Kumar four years ago with the objective to enhance green cover. Till now, this project has roped in politicians, celebrities, environmentalists, and general public from all over the world. The project, since its inception, has been working diligently towards the conservation of forests and natural resources, planting of saplings, promotion of organic farming, and the spread of awareness on the significance of creating a pollution free environment for the next generations.
We hope other states will follow suit and go on an aggressive plantation drive because this is an urgent need of the hour. The rate at which the trees are been cut for construction, we need to break records in planting of trees to sustain Mother Earth.
