A Punjab Police inspector has embarked on a green drive to immortalise the memories of his son, whom he lost to Covid in September last year.
Inspector Prem Singh Bhangu (55), posted as SHO of Dakha Mullanpur police station in Ludhiana rural police, has started planting and distributing saplings in the memory of his deceased son, who succumbed to the virus five days after getting married.
Bhangu has also adopted a unique way to spread his green message. He reaches the home of a child in his area on their birthday with a cake and eleven saplings and ensures that the family plants the saplings. He also plants saplings wherever he gets space such as canal banks, open grounds, cow shelters etc.
Speaking to The Indian Express, the inspector said his son Jasparambir Singh Goldy (26), had got married on September 6 last year. “Two days after the wedding, he started feeling unwell and vomited. We admitted him to SPS Hospital, where he was diagnosed with Covid. He died on September 11,” said the inspector.
He added that to keep the memories of his son alive, he then decided to embark upon ‘Mission Green’ to distribute and plant saplings wherever he got space. “We have also started another drive under which we visit the home of at least one child in Dakha Mullanpur area on his/her birthday and we gift him/her a cake and 11 saplings. Till now we have celebrated birthdays of at least 20 children this way. We also celebrate the birthdays of my colleagues in the police department in the same way,” said Bhangu. “People in the area have my number and they can call me to inform about their child’s birthday. I will reach their home along with a cake and 11 saplings,” he said.
“We started the drive in May and at least 2500 saplings of mango, jamun, neem, peepal, kadam, lemon, and other varieties, have already been distributed or planted in areas such as Sidhwan canal bank, Baddowal ground,” he said.
“I thought planting saplings was the best way to remember my son. During the second wave, so many people lost their loved ones due to a shortage of oxygen. So many trees, which produced oxygen, have been felled in Punjab. No matter how many new ones we plant, they can never be enough,” said the cop, who buys the saplings with his own money.