On the occasion of World Environment Day, Jalandhar Tribune collates the stories of some eco-warriors who are doing their bit to conserve nature and make the city more livable. These activists are of the view that the governments alone cannot make a difference and it is individuals who need to pitch in at small levels, work in synchronisation and take the lead to save our Mother Earth

Promoting ‘green swap’ among residents

In an attempt to encourage residents to indulge in planting saplings, environmental activist, Meenal Verma, has started a new initiative called ‘green swap’. Under this plan, anyone can exchange his extra plant with a new variety option available in ‘swap crate’, which has been set up at an outlet of Mink Organics in Green Model Town. Verma has set rules for the same: “Leave one plant and pick one plant. There are no bookings and plants will be swapped on first-come-first-served basis. Do not try to be oversmart and try to swap with wild plants or weeds.”

Showing crates of asparagus, spider plants, snake plants, ferns, lilies, jades, caladiums, pothos and some ornamental plants available with her, she says that she believes that swapping would form a never ending loop and keep people involved. She has a plan for the beginners as well. “We even intend to involve those who are new to gardening and do not own any plants for swapping. They will have to wait till the monsoon arrives,” she said.

The green swap also includes exchange of surplus seeds and bulbs. “Labels are a must for such swaps. We are in no way trying to hit the business of nurseries. Our intention is that people resort to gardening. The trigger that we will give will push them towards nurseries for more varieties of their choice,” said Verma. Her group ‘Going Zero Waste’ and FB page ‘Sense by Meenal Verma’ has been promoting the use of bioenzymes at home.

‘Rukh’ app for increasing green cover in region

Almost everyone across the region knows that the contribution of noted environmentalist Padma Shri Balbir Singh Seechewal’s contribution for conserving the enviornment remains unmatched. But very few people know that he has also turned the technology way for expediting his activities. These days, he’s promoting tree plantation through his app ‘Rukh’. The 59-year-old through his IT team has indexed all varieties of saplings available with him into aromatic plants, ornamental plants, medicinal plants, fruit trees and shady trees among others and listed their availability at various nurseries across Jalandhar, Kapurthala and Sultanpur Lodhi for a free pick up. Even more interesting is the fact that Seechewal maintains a liaison with sapling buyers after their get the sapling and tells them to upload pictures of their trees after two years and at the time when they begin to bear flowers or fruits.

His volunteers said around eight lakh saplings had been given to villages across Punjab during the 550th Parkash Purb of Guru Nanak Dev. “Though our target was 5.5 lakh saplings, we went far beyond it. Another change that we have brought is that we are not giving small saplings for plantation as tree guards have to be used to prevent them from being trampled. So, we are giving slightly bigger plants and sometimes even fully grown trees with proper mechanism for transplanting,” said Gurvinder Singh Boparai, a volunteer.

‘Join hands to say no to real butterfly photoframes’

Through his NGO Dastak Welfare Council, Prof Sandeep Chahal of Doaba College had launched ‘Save butterflies campaign’ in 2009 to save the depleting population of butterflies. He has been organising awareness campaigns since then in different educational institutions. He has engaged students to send across a message to stop butterfly poaching and to motivate people not to buy real butterfly photo frames, real butterfly earrings, pendants and bracelets.

The NGO has been distributing free of cost bonsai variety of citrus plants to the populace which promotes Lemon monarch butterflies species. The members have also motivated farmers to cultivate cabbage in their fields, which promotes the population of cabbage butterflies. Professor Chahal said: “Lemon monarch butterfly helps in the bumper production of kinnow, but it’s also poached, killed and sold for Rs 2,000 per piece and children of age group 10 to 14 years are used by butterfly poachers and smugglers to kill butterflies for Rs150 per day.”

“There are 24,000 known butterfly species in the world, 1,500 species in India and around 142 species of butterflies in Punjab. Nearly, 300 species of butterflies in India are under the endangered species category. The delicate, multi-colour hued wing creatures traverse upto 5000 km, promote life by pollinating plants, but sometimes get brutally poached and put inside a photoframe, which is a cause for concern,” he said.

Leading a drive to set up rainwater harvesting plants

Being a scientist himself and seen the use and impact of excessive use of chemical fertilisers, Lupinder Kumar, Sub-Divisional Soil Conservation Officer, said that he has set up his own kitchen garden on a 5 marla vacant plot of his friend. “I show this plot to all my acquaintances and tell them how they can grow their own veggies without the use of chemicals. I never go to the mandi for buying fruits and vegetables and most needs of my family is met through the produce from this area. I only use vermicompost for my plants and buy 50 kg of this compost at the start of every season. If at all I need to buy vegetables, I only procure organically produced stuff from some known farmers.” He said he has hired a gardener who works under his supervision.

Lupinder has been spearheading a campaign to set up rainwater harvesting plants in the government buildings for recharging of depleting groundwater table. He has got the plants set up in nearly 20 buildings with a terrace area of nearly 17,000 sqm. He elaborates, “Six new structures for rainwater harvesting are coming up at PAP. We have 16 more plants coming up at Nakodar, Shahkot and Phillaur, besides a tender of Rs45 lakh has been floated in which 36 rainwater plants would soon be coming up in 18 government buildings and schools.”

— Contributed by Deepkamal Kaur