Hailakandi district observes 69th Van Mahotsav

A Correspondent

Hailakandi, July 5: The 69th Van Mahotsav is being observed across Hailakandi district in a befitting manner. Saplings are being planted in different parts of the district and provided free to citizens and organisations. Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) NH Mazumder said saplings were distributed and planted in areas under Algapur and Katlicherra revenue circles in presence of local MLAs and also in Hailakandi revenue circle. Thousands of saplings were distributed from the divisional office and other forest range offices to citizens and organisations. According to the DFO most of the saplings planted last year have survived.

Hailakandi Deputy Commissioner, Adil Khan and dignitaries of the town planted saplings in the premises of SK Roy Civil Hospital on Wednesday. Khan urged the people, especially school children to plant and nourish trees to encourage afforestation for maintaining ecological balance. “Be sensitive towards nature and plant trees to make Hailakandi more clean and green district,” he exhorted.

DFO Mazumder said the forest division planned to take up more plantation drives to give the district a green makeover. The recent unprecedented deluge that affected half of the district’s 6.59 lakh population acted as an eye-opener. “The lack of green cover or forests not only harms the ecosystem of the animals, but also disturbs the delicate balance of nature. Floods and droughts are a great indicator of this disturbance,” added Mazumder.

Van Mahotsav is a festival that is celebrated in India since 1950 and is also known as Forest Day. The festival is usually celebrated from July 1 to July 7. It aims at increasing the green cover of India. The day was established 69 years ago by the Ministry of Agriculture and has contributed in planting lakhs of trees in the entire country.