12th
July, 2014,Bangalore. The Art of Living designated Guru Purnima, July 12, 2014,
as “The Art of Living Environment Day”.
A
nationwide campaign was launched to green the environment by planting
economically and environmentally beneficial tree-species that would reduce
erosion of the soil while improving its water-retention capacity.
The
Art of Living International Centre at Bangalore began its programme for the
day
by clearing a stretch of road in Kanakapura of garbage. As
many as 75
tractor loads of garbage had been cleared by the enthusiastic volunteers who
included members of the local Panchayat, Youth Leaders, volunteers of Art of
Living and its associated educational institutions.
An
inaugural function was held at the International Centre to officially launch
the greening drive by planting saplings. Dr.Vaman Achariya, Chairman, Karnataka
State Pollution Control Board, Bangalore, presided.
Expressing
happiness about the initiatives being launched,
Dr.
Achariya said,
“Trees are an integral part of our life, and everyone should raise their voice
against tree felling and rising emission levels". He also quoted the
UNDP slogan:"Raise your voice and not the sea level."
Reiterating
Art of Living's commitment towards environment, Mr. Prakash
Athrayil, Administrator at the Centre, shared, "Civic/municipal
authorities alone cannot get rid of the heaps of garbage in our cities.
Every citizen must contribute to keeping cities clean by practicing individual
civic responsibility, creating awareness and participating in community
cleanliness campaigns."
After
the inaugural ceremony, around 900 high-school students and teachers from the
Art of Living's VVMVP school in Kanakapura participated
in a tree-planting initiative.
In
addition, as several trees had been felled for road-widening work, the Art of
Living’s Sri Sri Institute of Agricultural Sciences and Technologies Trust
(SSIAST) - a non-profit organization – is overseeing the plantation of saplings
to substitute the felled trees. To ensure each sapling that is planted survives
and grows into a tree, the SSIAST has also developed a monitoring system for
the planted saplings. Here too, the species have been judiciously selected for
sustainability.
Besides
planting trees, SSIAST aims to train youth on river rejuvenation technologies,
which is one of the service-projects of the Art of Living’s Volunteer for a
Better India (VBI).
The
tree-planting drive has been taken up on a pan-India level.
Delhi,
Bombay and Pune were some of the other places where volunteers gathered in
their hundreds for this project.
As
followers took to social media to express their gratitude, the hashtag #ThankYouSriSri
trended worldwide in around 60 countries. A large number of Twitter users were
also pleasantly surprised with a personalised message from Sri Sri.
Later
in the evening, thousands joined the Guru Purnima celebrations with Sri Sri via
a webcast. Many expressed a resolve to commit themselves towards societal
change and participate in community welfare.
No comments:
Post a Comment