In an effort to bring back environmental consciousness among the citizens of East Khasi Hills District, The Office of the Deputy Commissioner with the help of the Forest Department, Government of Meghalaya and the Soil and Water Conservation, Government of Meghalaya had launched the Mega Tree Plantation Festival under the Chief Minister’s Youth for Green Campaign under the umbrella programme of Mission Green of the IBDLP on the 30th of July, 2014
The initiative was commenced formally at Mawphlang while other various locations in the 8 blocks of the District had simultaneously launched the same initiative as well. The dignitaries present at the event were the chief guest, Honourable Chief Minister of Meghalaya, Dr. Mukul Sangma, Mrs. R. Warjri, Home Minister to the Government of Meghalaya, Mr. K.C. Khriem, Parliamentary Secretary (Tourism), Mr. R.V. Lyndoh, MLA Mylliem, Mr. L. Blah, MDC, Mr. Sunil Kumar, PCCF & HOF, Mrs. D. Marak, MLA Mahendraganj. The aim of the initiative was to Plant 7, 00,700 numbers of Trees in a Single Day in the 8 blocks of the District. This was an attempt to break the world record for most tree saplings planted in a day in one District. The call on whether the record has been achieved will be judged by adjudicators from Limca Book of Records. The result will be declared when the final figures are declared at a much later date.
The welcome address was delivered by Mr. S. Goyal, the Deputy Commissioner of EKH. He stated that “Today is a red letter day in the history of East Khasi Hills in particular and in the state of Meghalaya in general for a green cause.” This initiative was spearheaded by him.
P.B.O Warjri, Chief Secretary to the Government of Meghalaya also spoke on the dais, stating that “This is a very ambitious programme taken up under Mission Green. It aims to create greater awareness among the people about the environment.” He advocated the needs to take better care of the environment as this had a direct impact on our nutritional needs.
Roshan Warjri, Honourable, Home Mister of the Government of Meghalaya was quick to mention that “This initiative is launched for the future generation.” She also said that “There are many wars happening in the world but the biggest war is against the degradation of the environment.” She harped on the point that was imperative for us to take great care of the environment as it was a responsibility to leave our future generation a world that contains salubrious air and water.
The chief guest of the event, the honourable Chief Minister of the Government of Meghalaya, Mukul Sangma was very excited about the initiative and gave a brief on the objectives of Mission Green. He said “This is a programme which is under Mission Green and when we talk about any programme which is designed in the mission format; it invariably requires the complete involvement of the stakeholders otherwise it cannot be mission. A mission cannot be achieved unless we reach out to everyone and get participation from everyone.”
He was also prompt to remind the entire participants, especially the students that “We should remind ourselves as citizens that we are citizens of the global community and we are not insulated from what happens to the planet earth. As a state we should take this gigantic responsibility of doing whatever we can to drive this mission. Mission Green is a broad spectrum approach. One of the facets of the Mission is taking care of the vegetation coverage to ensure that the land around us is not left barren.”
He was confident of the initiative and stated that “Under this Mission we expect to take care of barren lands, recharge our catchment areas, improve the hydrology of all the streams and rivers and also ensure that we integrate our way of life in manner that has minimum adverse impact on our environment.”
Lastly he requested the DC to engage with all the villages in the District and provide them with an opportunity to raise community nurseries with the help of the state machinery.
It was reported that 7, 11,060 saplings were planted on the day.