By Sunil Sonker
Mussoorie, 16 Jul: Harela, the festival symbolising Uttarakhand’s culture and love for nature, was celebrated here, today, with a new zeal and purpose. The Harela festival brought the message of environmental awareness and family bonding. At a programme organised at Congress Bhawan here, plants were distributed, and people were urged nurture them like family members. Addressing the party workers present, former MLA Jot Singh Gunsola said that Harela is not just a festival of planting saplings, it is an opportunity to sow the future. Planting a sapling and getting photographed is not enough, the real work is its upbringing. Just as children are raised with love, it is important to nurture every plant in the same way. Citing statistics, he said that every year lakhs of saplings are planted on Harela, but only 10 percent of them survive. The main reason for this is lack of care and tree plantation only for show.
Mussoorie Congress President Amit Gupta appealed to the people to plant a tree in the name of each member of their family and nurture it in the same way as they do their children. This would not only be a service to the environment but also be a deep human effort to connect the new generation with nature.
Women Congress workers also participated enthusiastically in the Harela festival. The Mahila Congress undertook a plantation campaign on a large scale on Sterling Road. Women Congress President Jasbir Kaur said, “We plant trees every year on Harela festival and take responsibility for their care. But it is sad that the government only makes paper declarations, the forest department does not have enough plants.” She said that all citizens should understand their responsibility and take steps to make the environment clean and safe. With this objective, cloth bags and dustbins were also distributed to the people to promote freedom from plastic and waste management. The message was communicated that connecting with nature should not be a one-day task but a part of everyday lifestyle.
Councillor Ruchi Gupta, Bhagwan Singh Dhanai, Nagendra Uniyal, Surabhi Semwal, Sunita, Sudha Bhandari, Sangeeta Gargi, Manju, Lakshmi, Pinky, Bharti, Shobha, Manju Pundir, Pramila Bhatt, Chanchal, Seema, Saroj, Sarojini Uniyal, Jona Belwal, Sharda, Saja Devi, Dev Khatri, Kanta were among the many present on the occasion.
