Mission Green: Mangalore to go greener with another 3000 trees

Mangalore: With the endeavour of young entrepreneur and environmentalist Jeeth Milan Roche, Mangalore is going greener with 3,000 saplings being planted around the city. From the past 10 years, Jeeth has been planting saplings in Mangalore city and this year, he will complete planting 25,000 saplings in total. Since the monsoon is here, he has joined hands with the forest department and taken the initiative of tranforming Mangalore into a greener place with his slogan “Keep our Mangalore clean and green”. He has also started an awareness campaign on Facebook with his page “Mangalore Green Brigade” which has a growing number of visitors each day.

Last week, Jeeth was found busy planting saplings with his wife near Kadri-Shivabhag along with six workers and after completion, is currently busy at Attavar. He has already covered areas in the city such as Bendoorwell, Kankanady, Valencia, Jeppu, Nandigudda, Morgansgate and Milagres. The staff from the forest department have been helping him by providing the required saplings.

Explaining about his hobby and passion to protect greenery, Jeeth said, “It began when I started planting a hundred saplings while few well-wishers helped me continue my work and plant more of them. I not only plant but also look after them during the summer so that plants do not get dried up. I have my wife Selma, who always joins me after her house work”, he said.

"Since I need the saplings, I get help from the forest department. In some areas, vendors and local residents join me and help me in my work. It gives me immense pleasure to plant more. Some pay wages to the labourers and encourage me," Jeeth says.

"At the same time, there are several people who oppose the initiative saying that the leaves from the plants fall into their compound and spoil the beauty of their surrounding. However, I do not listen as the roads are public property. I also plan to plant saplings besides bus stands so that passengers get shade once the plants grow up," he adds.

He laments that Mangalore was losing its greenery due to concretisation which would lead to a major crisis if prevention measures were not taken. The present ground water level in Dakshina Kannada is decreasing and it is a threat for the future. In such a situation, public must be made aware of the same and start protecting natural resources, he suggests.

Lauding the efforts of Jeeth, Range Forest Officer Clifford Lobo says that Jeeth had been helping the forest department which in turn provided him with required saplings. The Department has a target of planting 12,000 saplings in Mangalore taluk and few interested people have also been helping the department in meeting this goal. "We will provide saplings for those who are ready to plant," he said.

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