It is impossible to imagine our lives without trees. In fact, to a large extent life itself is dependent on trees. From contributing to environment by supplying oxygen to providing shelter, food, medicine, so many vital aspects of our lives rely heavily on trees. However, in the wake of development we are just ignoring their importance and chopping down what were our veritable guardians all this while.
In Motihari district of Bihar, though, the situation is different. Here, people are now coming forward in support of the trees, to prevent their cutting and to safe-guard the ones which are very old and therefore rally precious. All this has become possible due to an initiative taken by the District Collector Sirshat Kapil Ashok.
In a conversation with Indian Masterminds, he talked about his ‘Save our Guardian’ project for preserving the trees which are at least 50 to 100 years old.
AN APP FOR TREE IDENTIFICATION
Mr. Ashok believes that old trees are very crucial for a healthy ecosystem. So, we need to save them and the project initiated by him revolves around this idea.
As he explained, “There are lot of programs under which plantation of new trees are encouraged. Every year the forest department also plant hundreds of trees. However, those trees will take time to grow up and help in strengthening the ecosystem. While at the same time we have several trees that are old and have strong roots to control floods and erosion. It is important that we are planting new ones but it is equally important and necessary to save the old ones.”
Under this project, an App is being developed to first identify the old trees. The app named ‘ParyavaranPrahari’ doesn’t only give the location of the trees but also has additional information about their cultural or historically relevance and what all should be done to preserve them.
Explaining the working of the app, the nodal officer of the project Mr. Amit Upadhaya said, “A team is assigned with the task to identify the trees. They are using the geo-tagged photos (with longitude & latitude markings) of the trees to trace their location. Apart from this, the app also has information about the girth of trees. With this app we have identified a total of 1450 trees in the district, out of which 52 trees are taken as model trees to set an example on the preservation front”.
RELEVANCE
Some identified trees are 400 years old and have great historically value. At the same time, some are turned into places of worship. The team has identified a 400 year-old Banyan tree in Harsiddhi block. The tree is part of a temple famous as ‘Kuleshwari Sthan’. “We talked to many older people to guess the age of that banyan tree. Few told us that their grandfather had also seen that tree in the same shape as it is now”, said Mr. Upadhaya
Similarly, a trio of two peepal and one banyan trees is found in Aadapur block.
COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION
The collector is also encouraging community participation in this project. “Under the guidance of DM sir, a sanrakshak mandal is formed with the locals that will protect the trees. Apart from this, we are also organizing various cultural events in accordance with festivals to spread awareness about protecting the trees. On Rakshabandhan, Rakhi will be tied to each one of them. The idea is that people own up the trees and do whatever is required for their preservation. Like sculptures or monuments, these trees are also asset for us”, said Mr. Upadhayay.
The collector Mr. Ashok also feels that if preserved properly, many of these trees could also be a heritage site in the future.
