30,000 saplings planted and still counting

BANGALORE: Tree-hugging and dirt worshiping have become a trend in the most of the urban cities of the country were development and urbanisation have been stealthily taking over the green canopy that these cities once had to offer. Numerous trees are cut under the banner of development and urbanisation. Be it road widening to cater to the heavy vehicular traffic on the roads or more landscape to construct homes for the ever growing population. However, thanks to a few who stand tall, shoulder to shoulder with these stationary giants, all hope may not be lost.In a collaborated effort between SAP lab employees and founder of Treeforfree, Janet, 600 saplings were planted in Minhajnagar which is situated near Dayananda Sagar College, Kumaraswamy Layout,  near Banashankari. “Most of the trees were planted along the road side while a few were planted near a temple in Minhajnagar,” said Janet. The saplings were planted with bamboo tree guards on the roadside of Minhajnagar and inside Idgah Campus of nearby locality.The entire event which was sponsored by the corporate company, lasted almost nine relentless hours of planting. Various varieties of trees were planted. “Most of the trees we planted were flowering trees. The sole reason for that was that people prefer flowering plants over the non-flowering plants. We planted various species such as Mahogany, Arjuna and Neem,” she said.The task according to Janet is not over with just planting these saplings.“Whereever we plant the trees, the association of the area is made responsible to take care and look after those trees. We only plant trees where people come up to us willingly with open spaces, because that’s when we know that they really want to help the restore nature,” she explained. She explained that she and her team are more than willing to plant trees and explain the care and maintenance of the trees to those who are genuinely interested in seeing a greener tomorrow. She said that so far over the last five years she and her team have planted saplings in schools, open spaces, along roadsides, gated communities to name a few.Janet began Treeforfree in the fond memory of her late husband. “We have be planting trees and other saplings over the last five years. Counting the tiny saplings that were planted today we have planted over 30,000 tree and plant saplings so far,’ she informed.