Nagnath V. Yadgir, an Ayurveda doctor by profession and environmentalist by passion, has created a green cover in Kalaburagi city by planting 18,000 saplings in the last seven years.
Mr. Yadgir said that the first tree he planted in 2015 was in his compound. He brought some 30 saplings from the Forest Department and planted them in different places near his locality.
His team has planted 7,000 saplings at Sharan Sirasagi village on the outskirts of the city and 3,000 plantations on a single patch of barren land at Belur Cross. The team focuses on school compounds, community parks, and even graveyards, Mr. Yadgir added.
The ones most commonly planted are pongame oil (Millettia pinnata), neem, custard apple, bassora tragacanth, gulmohar, samanea saman, melia dubia, mango, banyan, sheesham, drumstick, guava, tamarind, and ashwatha trees. During the lockdown, even the school students joined him. He taught them the process ofmaking a nursery and educated them on the importance of trees.
th/18,000