Love draws youths to Parvati greening effort

Pune: Since a few months ago, birds of myriad species can be seen flocking to bright green patches of young trees on Parvati Hill. The greenery is a result of the hard work put in by a group of youngsters wishing to turn around the face of the hill.

Parvati houses the Panchayatan temple and is a regular climb for many residents who go up the hill for exercise and to enjoy the view from the top.

"We saw Parvati was devoid of good green cover and thought of changing how it looks. We wish to turn the hill greener and also encourage environment-friendly practices among all locals and tourists who come here," said Makarand Kelkar (20) and Aniruddha Godbole (21).

The youths are part of Harita Kranti Sanghatna and work with five others.

Kelkar is a BCA student and Godbole works in a fibre moulding unit. Their humble backgrounds notwithstanding, they take care of the trees through their personal savings.

The youths look forward to their everyday routine that includes almost two hours of work in the evening to tend to the 60-70 plants they have planted. They make sure not to miss even a single day and have even learnt how to source natural manure for the plants.

They have been able to get together a group of people and encourage visitors to water the plants regularly and to tend to them. The other members of the group are Ravindra Kulkarni, Amir Munjawar, Pramod Godbole, Ashok Mane and Lakshman Shinde.

The group has also put in place an innovative watering system in the form of inverted water bottles with tiny holes near each plant. These help to keep the soil wet. Visitors are encouraged to throw garbage only in boxes kept at regular intervals and not to litter the hill.

Empty bottles have been placed at the entry point. Those who wish to help can fill a bottle and take it up to water the plants or keep the filled bottles on top of the hill for the youths.

"It started as a small initiative, but seeing the trees growing each day, we feel very positive and hope to see a greener and cleaner Parvati in the time to come," Kelkar said. He had started the tree plantation activity under the guidance of tree activist Deepak Vahikar.

"These youngsters lug up the pipes and water the plants religiously. What they do on a daily basis is not an easy task," said Vahikar, who has an office in the area.

"They used to frequent my office and showed interest in doing something good for the environment. I encouraged them to start with a few saplings, told them about the legalities of planting and cutting trees in the city and also about which trees would be appropriate to plant in the area," Vahikar said.

Since the hill has red soil, trees like Peepal (Ficus religiosa), Banyan (Ficus benghalensis), Audumbar (Ficus racemosa), Sita Ashok (Saraca asoca), Bakul (Mimusops elengi) and Champa (plumeria) have been planted. "

Emphasis was on local trees and those which would survive in the coming months of heat and would not require a lot of water," he said.

"The sustained efforts are only because of the kids. Their target now is to plant 300-350 trees by June so that the saplings can benefit from the monsoon. I wish more people get inspired and join in this effort," Vahikar added.