Garhwal Post Bureau
Dehradun, 16 Jul: A large-scale plantation drive was organised at Maldevta here today under the campaign ‘Har Gaon Ka Yahi Paigam – Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam’ to mark Uttarakhand’s traditional Harela festival. On this occasion, Forest, Health and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Subodh Uniyal was the Chief Guest and led the plantation drive by planting a Rudraksha sapling on the occasion.
Rajya Sabha MP Naresh Bansal, Tehri Garhwal MP Mala Rajya Laxmi Shah and Raipur MLA Umesh Sharma ‘Kau’ were also present on the occasion. Bansal planted a Maulsari sapling, Shah planted a Mahogany sapling while Sharma planted a Kadamba sapling.
Addressing the gathering on the occasion, Uniyal sought to give a message of environmental conservation. He observed that while planting trees is very important, ensuring their protection and nurturing them into fully grown trees is even more significant responsibility. He said plantation drives would become meaningful only when the saplings planted today grew into trees capable of providing a clean and healthy environment for future generations.
The Forest Minister reminded that the state has set a target of planting 10 lakh saplings today across Uttarakhand, while a total of two crore saplings would be planted during this year’s Harela celebrations. He said the government’s objective is not merely to plant trees but to transform their protection and growth into a mass movement with active public participation.
Uniyal described Harela as a sacred festival expressing gratitude towards nature and said trees, rivers and wildlife were invaluable natural assets without which human life could not be imagined. He said plantation and conservation of trees are essential for environmental protection, maintaining ecological balance and securing the future of coming generations.
He further said reducing human-wildlife conflict and protecting forests is a shared responsibility of the government and the society. The Forest Department, he claimed, is continuously working through public participation to conserve forests and minimise incidents of human-wildlife conflict. He emphasised that the goal of a developed India can be achieved only by maintaining harmony with nature and appealed to the people to become partners in the journey of sustainable development.
During his address, Uniyal also paid tribute to the forest personnel who had laid down their lives while protecting the forests and to citizens who had lost their lives in incidents of human-wildlife conflict.
Rajya Sabha MP Naresh Bansal said Harela symbolises Uttarakhand’s cultural and spiritual bond with nature and the environment and inspired people to live in harmony with nature. He appealed to every citizen to plant saplings and take responsibility for their protection and care.
Tehri Garhwal MP Mala Rajya Laxmi Shah and Raipur MLA Umesh Sharma ‘Kau’ also urged the people to undertake large-scale plantation and treat the protection and nurturing of trees as a social responsibility. Officials said plantation drives are being carried out simultaneously at 3,791 locations across all 40 forest divisions of the state, covering a wide variety of indigenous and other suitable species to increase Uttarakhand’s green cover and strengthen environmental conservation efforts. Commendation certificates were also presented to officials and staff members for their outstanding work.
Principal Secretary, Forests, RK Sudhanshu, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Wildlife) and Chief Wildlife Warden Neena Grewal, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests (Van Panchayat) SP Subuddhi, Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Vivek Pandey, Chief Conservator of Forests (Garhwal) Dheeraj Pandey, DM Ashish Chauhan, CDO Abhinav Shah, DFO Neeraj Sharma, Mussoorie DFO Amit Kumar, Kalsi DFO Vaibhav Kumar, senior Forest Department officials, public representatives, government officials, employees and a large number of local residents were present on the occasion.
