Going green for Diwali

City-based Kanha Shantivanam planted over 500 saplings in association with volunteers from Heartfulness Institute to celebrate Diwali on Wednesday.

The activity was undertaken as part of an ongoing effort by Heartfulness Institute to enrich the environment and lessen the destruction caused by human activities.

Later, 1,000 Heartfulness practitioners from Europe, who are in the city for meditation and training sessions, took part in the plantation drive.
“The Green Kanha initiative emphasises the need to grow ecologically, economically and socio-culturally important native tree species.

Kanha Shantivanam is also an ex-situ conservation centre, where rare and threatened plant species are being collected from far and wide within India. Due diligence is being given to the positive ecological role they can play in the decades and maybe centuries to come,” said a statement from the organisers.

“More than 40,000 trees have already been planted and the vision is to reach 2,00,000. Over 300 mature trees that were marked for felling because of roadworks have been rescued and transplanted in Kanha Shantivanam and they are regaining their resplendent form.

Another 100 coconut trees marked for felling in Krishnagar District, Tamil Nadu, have also been transplanted to Kanha Shantivanam,” informed the statement.