SUBHASH MISHRA
Ranchi, Aug 30: Hundreds of villagers at Akashi PF Lohardaga today celebrated Raksha Bandhan festival by tying Rakhi to trees and pledging to protect them.
On the occasion, Jharkhand’s Additional Principal Chief Conservator of Forest (APCCF) Sanjiv Kumar was the chief guest at the function and he highly praised the step and spirit of villagers for saving trees as well as the forest by organizing a function on this auspicious day.
“Raksha Bandhan ceremony with trees would not only save forest and environment but also provide livelihood to you (villagers). Such a trend would instil love among the new generation for saving and protecting trees,” he said.
Jharkhand’s model of protecting trees by tying Rakhi has become a global campaign. Last year, people in several countries in Africa, Europe and America celebrated this on a large scale and uploaded it on a public platform.
The ‘Tree Raksha Badhan’ is the brainchild of APCCF Sanjiv Kumar. He launched this ambitious programme in 2005 from Dhanbad where he was a Divisional Forest Officer (DFO). Thereafter, wherever he went he continued celebrating and encouraging villagers of forest villages on a large scale.
His campaign got national as well as international recognition in East Singhbhum and in the divisions of Hazaribag district.
“His (APCCF) presence in our function encouraged us to celebrate Raksha Bandhan on a large scale on trees,” said a villager.
