For Punekars, Sundays are about giving trees a painless life

Mayor Mukta Tilak took part in the initiative on Sunday

Inspired by the belief that 'plants can communicate', a 37-year-old man from Pune has started an initiative called 'Painless Trees', as part of which a group of residents take out the nails, steel wires and other objects hammered into tree trunks to put up flexes, hoardings and other advertisement material, thus releasing them of the pain.

A group of 30 members take up the job every Sunday and manage to free almost 10-13 trees of the harsh objects within two-and-a-half hours

After 37-year-old Madhav Balkrishna Patil, who is an electric consultant, started the initiative, 29 others joined him and started spreading awareness. Every Sunday they come together and remove the harsh objects that are driven into tree trunks. Over the past four weeks, they have managed to remove almost 5 kg of nails and wires.

Speaking to mid-day, Patil said, "The idea came to my mind recently while I was waiting at a bus stand. I noticed that a number of flexes, advertisement hoardings, parking boards and other objects had been put up on a number of trees."

He further said, "Inspired by scientist Jagdish Bose, who believed that plants can communicate, I thought of starting the initiative. Trees give us oxygen, but in return we don't even water them properly. We consider them to be our property. No one is even penalised for such acts. Initially, we started the campaign with three people. Every Sunday from 7 am to 9.30 am we carry out the work."

Another person Sharad Bodage, who is a part of the initiative, said, "In a span of two-and-a-half hours, we can remove nails and wires from around 10 to 13 trees. We use our own equipment for the work. Many people have joined us in the initiative over time."

Varsha Karmale, a freelancer journalist, said, "Our team comprises of 30 members now. Over the past four weeks, we have managed to remove 5 kg of nails, wires and other objects. We plan to melt all of the metal and recycle them."

Meanwhile, on Sunday, Pune Municipal Corporation Mayor Mukta Tilak took part in the campaign. She said, "I'm happy to see that instead of criticising others, people are trying to work for the environment. I was thrilled to be a part of the drive. I have asked two of my staffers to assist them in the work."

30
Total number of members the team has

5 kg
Amount of nails that have been removed over past four weeks

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