‘A tree is beautiful, but what’s more, it has a right to life; like water, the sun and the stars, it is essential. Life on Earth is inconceivable without trees’. What an apt quote!
Importance of tree plantation has been stressed upon time and again. The need for tree plantation has become even greater these days because of the growing pollution in the environment.
More and more trees must be planted if we really want to survive and lead a good life. Besides exhaling oxygen and inhaling carbon dioxide, trees also absorb other harmful gases from the environment thus making the air purer and fresher. The greener the tree, the more oxygen it shall produce and the more toxic gases it will absorb.
Our environment is the greatest gift of Mother Nature to us. A clean environment is vital to have a peaceful and healthy life. But because of negligence of some human beings we have put our nature on a dangerous threshold.
In order to make the generations to come, more sensitive and concerned about their environment and to reinforce positive attitude and values towards preserving it, CBSE proposed to plant trees and ‘Prakriti Mahotsav’ ‘तरवे नमः’ was celebrated on August 16,2018.
11 native tree species of Delhi were selected and each tree was given a unique name of a martyr for proper identification and personal touch.
The plants selected were Ficus religiosa- Peepal, Azadiracta indica – Neem tree, Cassia fistula- Amaltas , Ficus virens -Pilkhan, Morus alba-shahtoot, Syzigium cumini-Jamun, Polyalthia longifolia-Ashok, Delonix regia- Gulmohar, Alstonia scholaris- Saptaparni, Aegle marmelos-Bael, Phyllanthus emblica-Amla
Names of selected female Freedom Fighters were Madam Bhikaiji Cama (24 September, 1861- 13 August, 1936),Kasturba Gandhi (11 April, 1869- 22 February, 1942), Sarojini Naidu (13 February, 1879- 2 March, 1949),Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit (18 August, 1900- 1 December, 1990), Sucheta Kripalani (25 June, 1908- 1 December, 1974),Aruna Asaf Ali (16 July, 1909- 26 July,1996), Durga Bai Deshmukh (15 July, 1909- 9 May, 1981),Usha Mehta Savitribai Phule (25 March, 1920- 11 August, 2000), Begum Hazrat Mahal (1820- 7 April, 1879), Rani lakshmibai (19 November – 17 June, 1858), Kittur Rani Chennamma (23 October, 1778 – 21 February, 1829).
The students of Class X enthusiastically participated in this drive and pledged to take care of environment. The plants are kept in the central area of school so that all the students can see and identify the common plants found in Delhi.
This activity was organized by the Environment Club of Delhi Public School, R. K.Puram and was a great opportunity for the students & teachers to identify and to learn about the native trees of Delhi.
