Pune: 136 Territorial Army Battalion Undertakes Major Plantation Drive
Pune, September 17, 2020: A major initiative for planting over One Lakh saplings and One Lakh seed balls in current monsoon season has been undertaken by 136 Territorial Army Battalion (Ecological) of Southern Command in Satellite locations of Pune, namely, Bombay Engineering Group (Dighi), College of Military Engineering (Khadki) & National Defence Academy (Khadakwasla) since 30th August 2020.
The drive commenced with intensive planning and coordination at BEG wherein plantation of 01 Lakh Saplings, dispersal of 30,000 seed balls and creation of a water body of 2500 Sq mtr having of capacity to store 12.2 Lakh ltrs of rainwater has commenced. Simultaneously,16,000 saplings & 70,000 seed balls are also being planted at CME, Khadki and NDA, Khadakwasla.
With a genuine environmental concern of improving the lungs and air quality of Pune, 136 TA Bn (Eco) under stewardship of Col Venketesh P has obtained the required saplings from Social Forestry Dept., Pune, with proactive assistance from PCCF, Dinesh Kumar Tyagi and the Indian Association for Human Values (IAHV), Pune. The initiative has received an overwhelming response from the locals and NGOs, like M/s. Manavlok, Beed and M/s. Krishi Jal & Paryavaran Sanrakshan, (Dighi). The volunteers from these NGO’s join hands every weekend for the plantation drive, following necessary COVID precautions and safety norms. The plantation has successfully reached the halfway mark and the entire exercise is due to culminate on 02nd October 2020.
According to Army, 136 TA Battalion (Eco) located at Aurangabad is deeply committed to taking up plantation in a large scale, with 2-3 Lakh Saplings being planted every year in various Cantonments of Southern Command spread in over 11 states. Their efforts have already made a mark in Marathwada region, wherein less than three years, the unit has planted over 6.55 Lakh saplings, 14 Lakh Vettiver grass, four Lakh seedballs and undertaken large scale water harvesting projects in approx 823 Hectare of Forest land.
In pursuance of its planned afforestation program, the Battalion has taken over 200 hectare land in advance, for upcoming plantation season (2021), and has already enhanced its Nursery capacity from an initial 40 thousand saplings to 1.8 Lakh saplings in the current year. Such environment protection initiatives need to be encouraged and supported by all-corporates, NGOs, public bodies etc in making the world a better place for our future generations.
