Contribute to environment protection, plant a tree, online

If you want to contribute to the environment by planting a tree, you can do so with a few clicks of your mouse.

A non-governmental organisation, SankalpTaru, has started an online portal, which will help you plant a tree on your behalf in the Thar and some other locations in India. At present, the NGO is working in Barmer and Alwar districts of Rajasthan.

Ravibhan Singh Bhati, the operation head of the project in Barmer, said that many people want to contribute to environment protection, but they are unable to do so due to their busy schedule. “SankalpTaru is providing a platform to such people through which they can contribute to the environment protection. By paying ₹149, one can just not get a tree planted, but also get it done at his or her desired location and can check the progress of his sapling through virtual platform,” he added.

Bhati said the organisation has trained workers, who will plant saplings on behalf of the person, who can select a location after making the contribution. “The sapling is photographed and geo-tagged by the ground-level worker, so that the user can see its progress as it grows into a tree and the beneficiary who will nurture it. The user then gets regular growth updates to keep him/her more connected to the tree,” he added.

Bhati said the organisation, working in Barmer since 2013, has planted 20,000 saplings at two sites in Barmer district — 12,000 at Chokhla village and 8,000 at Nibala village. “The survival rate of plants is more than 95 percent,” he claimed, adding that if any plant gets damaged, the worker replace it with another sapling immediately.

Bhati said​ they selected Barmer ​after many people showed interest in the desert region. Under the initiative, they approach administrative authorities such as district administrations and panchayats and seek government land, pasture land or other common land to plant saplings. After getting no objection certificate (NOC) for the land from the authority, they plant saplings on the land following order from the people. “We are handing the land back to the concerned authorities after all the saplings planted there converting into trees,” said Bhati. He said they will hand over the Chokhla village site to the concerned authority by the end of this year.

Talking about Nimbala village site, Bhati said that the organisation started plantation at the site about a year ago and it will take the saplings more than three years to grow into trees, after which the land will be handed over to the panchayat. He said that the organisation is working in a professional manner. “After getting the NOC for the land, we apply for water and electricity connections and bear the charges till competition of the site,” he added.

Bhati said that Florian, a resident of Germany, who planted a tree at Nimbala village, recently visited the site and took stock of his plant. Jakrat Singh, who has planted about 200 trees, also visited the site.

According to Bhati, corporate house too contribute to the cause. He said SankalpTaru has planted 12,000 trees at Chokhla village site with a joint venture with Cairn Oil and Gas, a subsidiary of Vendanta Limited. Similarly, they are working in Alwar with Honda Motors.