For a greener nation

Ravi Kiran, a 29-year-old software engineer from Hyderabad is on a mission to have a greener planet. He has started a community project titled Green India village, under which he will plant at least 100 trees or more in a village in each state. He kickstarted the project by planting 150 saplings in Old Varni in Telangana.

Ravi earlier undertook a solo cycling expedition, Ride for Green India, from Kanyakumari to Kashmir to educate people on the importance of protecting the environment. “After my ride, I wanted to plant 12,000 trees but did not have enough funding. I was expecting Rs 12 lakh, but received only Rs 12,000. So now I am doing it on my own, with help from like-minded people,” he says.

Interestingly, each tree will be named after a state, union territory or freedom fighter. “This is a good way to remember our freedom fighters, while inspiring the next generation. In fact, some of the village students were discussing the names of freedom fighters, some of whom they hadn’t heard about before. It was a good sign,” says Ravi.

 One of the trees planted by Ravi Kiran

After he posted about the initiative on Facebook, many individuals from across the country, and even the US, came forward to fund the project. “I spent a total of Rs 1 lakh, of which Rs 50,000 was contributed by various people, Rs 20,000 came from the funds I had gathered during my last cycle ride and the remaining Rs 30,000 was from my own pocket. We also made tree guards to protect the trees, costing Rs 500 each. People contributed as per their capacity, and we mentioned their name on the tree guard,” explains Ravi, adding, “We are protecting the trees with the help of the Nizamabad Collectorate, and partnering with the government’s Haritha Haram programme. The government pays Rs 5 for maintenance of each tree. We use this fund to appoint a senior citizen as a watch guard to look after the trees. I will also be monitoring them over the weekends. Since my parents stay in the same village, they will take care too.” 

By involving everybody in the village including the panchayat members, village committee etc., Ravi has turned this into a community project. The initiative was inaugurated by Agriculture Minister Pocharam Srinivas Reddy.

“I want to inspire people to plant trees and tell them that they are in turn, serving the nation. Many people ride and raise awareness, but I want to take some follow-up action after my ride, which will serve as an example to others,” he says, and adds, “During my ride, I noticed many environment-related issues and how various states are carrying out their environment projects. I submitted a document to Dr Yogitha Rana, Collector of Nizamabad, and suggested a few measures that our state can adopt.” 

Ravi earlier quit his job to take on the solo cycle expedition, but is back to work now. For his upcoming programme, he will be moving to Latur, where he will plant trees named after soldiers who lost their life in war.