Holy' trees to check open defecation

Lucknow: In a novel attempt to check open defecation, the district officials in Gonda, recently voted as one of the dirtiest cities in the country, have decided to plant trees having religious significance.

Trees like peepul, banyan, neem, shami and bushes of tulsi will be planted in open spaces where defecation is common.

The plantation will begin from Monday to mark the World Environment Day which also happens to be the 45th birthday of chief minister Yogi Adityanath.

The chief development officer (CDO) of Gonda, Divya Mittal, said that the plantation drive will be carried out in 16 blocks covering 80 villages — five villages from each block.

The official said that the villages chosen for the drive were ones that have the maximum number of toilets but people continue to defecate in the open.

“People in the rural areas are aware of the religious significance of certain trees and offer prayers. They will never defecate anywhere near the tree. Therefore, we thought of planting these trees so that people would stop defecating in the open,” the CDO said.

As a pilot project, nearly 600 saplings will be planted in the district on Monday.

“Along with the plantation drive, we will also be holding awareness camps to inform the local people about the medicinal properties of these trees

Gonda fared worst in the all-India cleanliness, ranking 434th. Reacting to the cleanliness rating, the state government had pledged to make the state open defecation-free by October 2018.

To monitor growth of saplings, Ms Mittal said that each sapling would have tree guard for physical protection. This scheme is being launched as a pilot project and may be extended to other districts if the results are encouraging.