Minister Biswajit launches Vanmahtosav celebration
Source: Chronicle News Service
Imphal, July 01 2022:
The 73rd Vanmahotsav (Festival of Forests) 2022 was launched by forest, environment and climate change minister Th Biswajit Singh in the presence of principal chief conservator of forests (PCCF) Aditya Kumar Joshi at Haraorou village on Friday.
In a release, divisional forest officer (DFO) Kangpokpi N Ganesh informed that the programme was organised by Kangpokpi Forest Division with an aim to encourage public participation in planting trees and making the environment greener and as an effective and efficient way to combat Climate Change.
The event saw mass participation from village authority leaders, youth clubs, student unions and villagers of nearby villages of Haraorou, Yumnam Khunou and Sinam along with Kangpokpi Forest Division DFO, ACF and staff of Forest Department, it added.
The DFO said that after the successful launch, the celebration will continue with more public participation, in the first week of July.
Around 13,000 saplings will be planted across Kangpokpi Division at Taphou Kuki, Toklang Athongba, Waichong Range, Songphum village, Langkichoi and the plantation will continue for the next couple of months.
Further, the department has set the target of planting 75 lakh saplings and has planted around 27 lakh saplings so far.
Kangpokpi Forest Division has come up with theme 'One Student One Tree' wherein all students of the district will be provided a sapling each to grow and nurture.
Online quiz programme will also be organised in first week of July, while Manipurs living outside the state can vouch for planting a sapling each through the web platform manipurforest.vertace.org, it informed.
Meanwhile, additional principal chief conservator of forests N Sonzalian has expressed his wish for continuance of tree plantation, which is taken up far and wide across the country during the celebration of 73rd Van Mahotsav.
"All the villagers are here with us taking up tree plantation today.
Let it be a continuous process," he said, while expressing elation on seeing over a hundred of villagers participating in a mass tree plantation programme held at Sarkaphung/Siki phung village in Kamjong district.
The tree plantation programme was organised by Kamjong forest division as part of the inauguration of the week-long Van Mahotsav celebration on Friday.
He said that Van Mahotsav is also known as the 'festival of the forests' and is celebrated in the first week of July every year.
"Today being the 1st day of July, we are beginning the celebration of the 73rd Van Mahotsav for Kamjong district", he said.
Sonzalian inaugurated the plantation programme in the presence of Kamjong DC Rangnamei Rang Peter, Kamjong DFO SW Suisa, Litan PS OC Tezi and other departmental officials.
Calling for continuance of tree plantation, Sonzalian said: "Let it continue so that we get sufficient oxygen and also we could mitigate the global climate change through the greenery of our land".
He also made a strong case for the community to continue tree plantation, stating that the people will continue to get ground water as long as they have the greenery in their lands.
Interacting with media persons on the sidelines of the plantation event, Kamjong DFO SW Suisa said that the rationale for choosing Sarkaphung village as the site for the inauguration of the week-long forest festival is to dissuade the villagers from illegal poppy plantation and to bring them into plantation of horticulture plants which are commercially viable.
He said that towards this end, his department provided the villagers with a total of 3000 saplings for plantation which included tree species like Lemon, Orange, Yongchak (tree bean), Chorphon (olive), Uningthou, Leihao, Tairen, Heitup and others.
The plantation was taken up at 'Phungdhar', a public land of the village, spanning around 4 hectares and is situated about 1 km south of the village habitation.
"We are thankful to Kamjong Forest department for reaching out to my village on the occasion of this nation-wide forest festival.
We have planted around 3000 tree saplings provided by the department", said local headman Wungreikhan Kasar.
He expressed optimism that the planted trees would not only be an asset for the locals but would also be helpful in maintaining the environment.
All the dignitaries of the event led by N Sonzalian, Rang Peter, SW Suisa and Tezi joined the villagers in planting the trees.
It is learnt that Kamjong forest department has raised around 158,000 tree saplings at three of its designated nursery sites in the district - Shangshak Nursary, Komlaching Nursary and TM Kasom/Shokvao Nursary.
Among the tree species include Michelia champaca (Leihao), Juglans regia (Heijuga), Cedrella toona (Tairel), Cupressus, Prunus spp (Cherry), Quercus spp.
(Uyung), Parkia roxburghii (Yongchak), Pinus kesiya (Uchan), Artocarpus integrafolia (Theibong), Gmelina arborea (Wang), Chukrasia tabularis (Taimareng), Terminalia myriocarpa (Tolhao), Thuja compacta (Lairik Heibi) and Phoebe spp.
(Uningthou) .
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