Signs of green shoots in SGNP’s plantation drive

Subhajit Mukherjee, founder Mission Green Mumbai, at the nursery. Pic/Satej Shinde

A sapling and tree sale at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) gate is making our hearts sing. The annual Van Mahotsav has seen more robust buying this year, a report in this paper stated and that may be attributed, though not solely, to increasing awareness of oxygen in these Covid times.

Having said that, it was important to note that not just saplings but the sturdy, strapping banyan and the peepal trees were also being sold and had takers at the SGNP nursery. Several buyers even hired a tempo or two for big trees.

There are several takeaways like the fact that Mumbaikars, contrary to their couldn't-care-less-for-green reputation, do care for surrounding themselves with greenery and they are also losing their fear of tending to plants or trees.

Use the new awareness to stand with green warriors when their objections make sense and have merit. Involve the community in plantation drives to make them sustainable. Learn about trees and plants through reading, talking to experts and then, you can surely understand the value of the environment, climate change crisis talks and why the city's green proponents are at loggerheads with builders and infrastructure projects at times. This can be a springboard for involvement in bigger issues so that the net of ecological balance vigilantes increases and the same people are not taking up the cause all the time.

If taking on the powers that be, when action is needed, sounds intimidating or out of your ken, do your own thing with green. Plant saplings, encourage your local community to do so, or just within the environs of where you live. Awareness may sound trite, but these are the first steps towards contributing to saving Mumbai from its depleting green cover, so that the land sharks have a bigger army to fight against.