HT Bureau
GUWAHATI, April 22: Aaranyak, has organised outreach programmes for school children to mark the ‘World Earth Day, 2024’ in the Dibrugarh and Kokrajhar districts as well as in the West Garo Hills district of Meghalaya on Monday.
The theme for this year’s ‘World Earth Day’ is ‘Planet versus plastic’.
Schoo kids from the Kakojan Habi LP School, near the Dehing Patkai National Park, participated in an awareness programme organised by Aaranyak and British Asian Trust in collaboration with the Dehing Patkai National Park authority with support from Darwin Initiative (Biodiversity Challenge Funds).
In another occasion, the team from Aaranyak organised another outreach programme for students in the Kachugaon division of the Raimona National’s central range. The programme was organised by Aaranyak in collaboration with the Raimona National Park authority and the Wildlife Trust of India.
27 students participated in a drawing contest in Dibrugarh highlighting various aspects of nature and harmful effects of single use plastic and how their use can be reduced to protect the environment. The members of Aaranyak also engaged the students in discussions about plastic waste and co-existence between humans and elephants.
On the other hand, 20 students attended the outreach event held in West Garo Hills of Meghalaya, which was organised by Aaranyak and the British Asian Trust with support from the Darwin Imitative (Biodiversity Challenge Funds). These two areas of Dibrugarh and West Garo hills are affected by the burgeoning conflict between human beings and wild elephants and multifaceted approaches have been adopted by Aaranyak to mitigate the conflict.
The ‘World Earth Day’ is celebrated on April 22 every year to raise public awareness about environmental issues and promote sustainability in the world. This campaign reminds individuals and communities of the importance of protecting our planet and inspires them to take action.
Our Kokrajhar correspondent adds
Along with rest of the state, the NTPC Bongaigaon Salakati joined in the celebration of ‘World Earth Day’ by organising a plantation drive at its premises on Monday.
The NTPC Bongaigaon Salakati in Kokrajhar has committed itself towards a sustainable planet and accordingly planted more than 50 saplings on the occasion amidst the presence of its officials and staffs.
The NTPC Bongaigaon Salakati senior management led by K C Muraleedharan, CGM and business unit head planted saplings of varied types at its plant premises.
Speaking on the occasion, Muraleedharan said how NTPC as a group company is focusing on inspiring governments, businesses, and citizens to combat climate change. He also highlighted the efforts of NTPC towards creating a healthier planet for its stakeholders.
Induri S Reddy, GM (O&M), Asutosh Biswas, GM (operation) along with Somnath Bhattacharya, AGM (BE and In-charge EMG and Ash Utilization) and heads of departments and employees also participated in the plantation drive.
Our Nagaon correspondent adds
Prakritipremi Manch, Assam, a pioneer environmental organization of the state celebrated the ‘World Earth Day’ as well as its 22nd foundation day on Monday in Nagaon.
On the occasion the organization also carried out a massive plantation drive at Sonai – Kushi hills near Jagiroad along the Assam-Meghalaya border. The organization planted over 800 seedlings of 42 species of various plants consumed by wild elephants living in the forest of the state. They included plants like palm trees, banana, neem, mango, berries, elephant apple, jackfruit and others.
“The wild elephants living in the forests favour over 122 species of food plants,” said Hitesh Sharma, president of Prakritipremi Manch.
The conflict between men and elephants has been increasing day by day in the state due to shortage of food in the forest. Wild elephants often enter into the areas of human habitation from the forest in quest of food and create panic among the people.
As per a census conducted in 2017, there were over 4.5 million elephants in the world. There are 27,312 Asian elephants in India among which over 5,700 elephants reside in the forests of the state.
The programme was attended by Dhananjay Talukdar, Dhiraj Pator, Partha Pratim Gautam, Ratan Medhi, Jon Bordoloi, Prasad Deuri, Dharmendra Bordoloi, Nitul Deka, Kamaleswar Bordoloi, other dignitaries and other members of the organisation.
