JORABAT, July 5 - With the rest of the country, the 70th Van Mahotsav is also being celebrated by the Marakdala beat office under Sonapur Forest Range. The celebration has witnessed a massive plantation drive in the Dimoria region.
A large number of saplings were planted at various schools, religious sites, along highways and other public places in and around Sonapur and Byrnihat areas as part of the Van Mahotsav celebration.
Marakdala Beat Officer Jayanta Kalita led the team during the plantation drive where various government officials, students and local villagers supported and came forward to celebrate the week-long event. The celebration started on July 1 and will continue till July 7.
Sonapur forest range officer Dilip Kumar Das inspired the forest team by planting saplings at various locations and distributing saplings among the villagers.
Kalita, while addressing a huge gathering during the sapling distribution programme in 14th Mile area, today said, "Through this initiative, we intend to encourage tree plantation and preservation of Nature to maintain ecological balance. Every year we celebrate the occasion on a large scale and this year we are delighted to once again receive a great response."
Highlighting the beginning and importance of Van Mahotsav, Kalita briefed the festival as an annual tree planting and forest conservation event started in India in 1950 by the then Union Agriculture and Food Minister KM Munshi, whose objectives were to increase the production of fruits, adding to potential food resources of the country, creating shelterbelts around agricultural fields to increase their productivity, provide fodder leaves for cattle to relieve intensity of grazing over reserve forests, boost soil conservation to prevent further deterioration of soil fertility by celebrating this festival.
This festival is usually celebrated every year in July after the onset of monsoon at national, state, district and grassroots levels.
Meanwhile, as part of the week-long Van Mahotsav, a Khanapara forest team led by Beat Officer Prahlad Gayan organised a plantation and sapling distribution drive today.
Gayan informed that over 70 saplings were planted along NH-37 and other parts of Khanapara this morning and a sapling distribution programme led by forester Jhintu M Talukdar was also carried out near the beat office where about 50 saplings were distributed among the locals.
