New Town locals plant 1k saplings for 4th yr in a row

Kolkata: Members of a New Town-based nature lovers' forum, achieved the milestone of planting yet another 1,000 trees in New Town in a year on Saturday. This marks the fourth consecutive year of planting 1,000 trees by the forum since 2022.The forum, Ecologic, planted the 1,000th sapling for this year on a patch of land in green verge number 8 in New Town BD block. Since 2022, over 4,300 plants of different varieties such as neem, bakul, arjun, amlaki, jamun, palash, banyan, and radhachura have now been planted.The forum has also been taking care of the trees. Over 70% of the saplings that they had planted so far have been surviving and growing. Some of the plants are temporarily guarded and identified by bamboo sticks, while many others are protected with iron mesh nets.Residents involved in the initiative said it was both fun and a pleasure to work together to contribute to society by helping to increase and protect greenery in the township. "The quality of air is deteriorating everywhere, and Kolkata is not far away from Delhi in terms of AQI. We all need to preserve and spread greenery," said Nisha Sahu, a member of the forum.Siddhartha Banerjee, another member and a senior citizen living in New Town BD block, said what mattered most was the urge to contribute at a personal level. "I strongly believe that citizen participation can bring about long-lasting change. I am so happy that a jamrul sapling that I nurtured at home found a place in the green verge close to my house and is protected," he said.The forum is now stressing on increasing greenery in the green verges. Aditi Mukherjee, who lives close to Derozio College in Action Area II, travelled early in the morning to Action Area I to be part of the 1,000th tree plantation celebrations for this year. " The green verges across New Town are an asset to this township," she said.

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