Baba spreads green gospel
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CHANDIGARH: He is known as Triveni Baba in rural Haryana. And, he is on
a green mission. Baba's real name is Satyawan, a resident of Bisalwas
village in Bhiwani district, and he is a follower of Swami Vivekananda's
ideology. Claiming to be instrumental in planting 10 lakh trees in the
past two decades, he said on Monday that he would plant 1.5 lakh trees
in one year to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Vivekananda.
A postgraduate in history, Baba, 47, initiated his campaign 20 years ago by planting trees in a cremation ground in his neighbouring Saral village. Soon it became a passion for him. People started calling him Triveni Baba as he has been encouraging them to plant three trees -- banyan, ficus religiosa and azadirachta indica -- in groups considering their religious importance, ayurveda and eco-friendly reasons.
For saplings, he takes the help from forest department and local panchayats. "I ask each newly-married couple to plant at least one sapling to maintain the health of environment," he said.
"Five to 10 persons are suffering from cancer in each village of Haryana. I tell farmers that the main source of cancer is increasing use of urea fertilizer in fields but trees can help them to create natural fertilizers to avoid the disease," he added.
Haryana is not bestowed with much natural forests and only 3.52% of its geographical area is under notified forests. The state government has been trying to increase the total area under forest cover to 10% for the past six years but it invited ire of Comptroller and Auditor General in 2012 for "lack of planning" as area under forest and tree cover remained almost stagnated despite spending Rs 539.58 crore on related schemes.
A postgraduate in history, Baba, 47, initiated his campaign 20 years ago by planting trees in a cremation ground in his neighbouring Saral village. Soon it became a passion for him. People started calling him Triveni Baba as he has been encouraging them to plant three trees -- banyan, ficus religiosa and azadirachta indica -- in groups considering their religious importance, ayurveda and eco-friendly reasons.
For saplings, he takes the help from forest department and local panchayats. "I ask each newly-married couple to plant at least one sapling to maintain the health of environment," he said.
"Five to 10 persons are suffering from cancer in each village of Haryana. I tell farmers that the main source of cancer is increasing use of urea fertilizer in fields but trees can help them to create natural fertilizers to avoid the disease," he added.
Haryana is not bestowed with much natural forests and only 3.52% of its geographical area is under notified forests. The state government has been trying to increase the total area under forest cover to 10% for the past six years but it invited ire of Comptroller and Auditor General in 2012 for "lack of planning" as area under forest and tree cover remained almost stagnated despite spending Rs 539.58 crore on related schemes.
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