The owner of an old age home-cum-NGO in Gujarat's Rajkot has planted 7,50,000 trees across the district and has pledged to turn the entire state 'green' in the next 20 years.
Speaking to ANI, Vijay Dobria, the owner of Sadbhavna Vrudhashram said, "We have planted 5,00,000 trees in tree guard and around 2,50,000 in a nearby forest. This needs a lot of patience and discipline because after planting saplings we need to water them and give manure in fixed proportions at particular timings. We have also been working towards the conservation of trees."
Dobria said, "To date, more than Rs 50 crore have been spent on the plantation of these trees. Also, a lot of money needs to be invested in the fresh saplings which have been planted recently. It is my resolution that I will turn the entire Gujarat green in the next 20 years."
"I am assisted by more than 500 people who work as my staff, including more than 200 women. I am proud of my work as I am able to do two things simultaneously, increase the green cover of the state which helps in saving the environment, and at the same time provide employment to so many people," added the old age homeowner and conservationist.
Dobria further said that he had planted the first sapling on June 5, 2014.
"Today this campaign to plant trees from a small village called Paddhari, situated between Rajkot-Jamnagar, has reached villages and towns of Saurashtra. The entire road from Rajkot to Morbi, Bhavnagar is giving a cool shade of Green Revolution today with the trees planted by Sadbhavna Old Age Home," said Dobria.
He also said that the NGO has not taken any money from the government for this initiative.
"Trees have been planted on the vacant land of cities and highways or on barren land in far-flung villages. Each planted tree is watered every third day and fertilized once a month for three years. In this way, it costs about 2500 to 2600 rupees to make a plant a tree. Which is much less than the cost of setting up an oxygen plant," added Dobria.
He also stated that this effort is playing an important role in making people aware of the protection and conservation of the environment.
( With inputs from ANI )
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