Amritsar students meet IRS officer who uses plastic bottles to make vertical gardens

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Amritsar, November 2

To sensitise people about the threats to the environment and to shake the world but in a gentle way, a set of city students started an endeavor of bringing to light the work being done for saving our environment by IRS officer Rohit Mehra, who is fondly referred to as “The Green Man of India”.

Students, including Dhwani Sharma, Raajvir Randhawa, Sukirat Singh, Anna Randhawa and Krish Vij, visited Rohit to know more about his work.

Rohit told them that a human body is composed of five elements — Earth, water, fire, air and space. The elements or the “Pancha Maha Bhutas”, as the Vedas describe them, are the fundamental building blocks of the Universe. These five elements are the essence of the entire world, both within and outside.

The students shared that one of the projects that Mehra undertook addressed two major environment concerns — reducing plastic waste and decontaminating the air. For this, he found single-use plastic bottles to be the best option and started building vertical gardens across the country.

Mehra also introduced the unique concept of “seed balls” to these young minds. Under this, seeds are wrapped in clay enriched with nutrition for their growth. These are thrown around wherever free space is available so that they can sprout into plants. The students were amazed to hear that Mehra and his family have distributed them at langars, rath yatras and at a number of other public events.

Committed to give back to nature, these students went for a micro-jungle walk with Rohit, which were made by him along with his team by clearing dump yards and converting them into lush green forests using “Vrikshayurveda” or the “Science of plant life”.

Mehra also took these passionate environmentalists to a plant hospital opened by him that provides ambulance for sick trees and plants. A rickshaw, which has been converted into a hospital that is equipped with all necessary plant medication, was also shown to them.

The students were also briefed about a plant ATM, which is a unique way of making people understand their responsibility towards the nature. Through this mobile ATM, two plants are given free of charge to those who promise to take care of them. The students said such thoughtful actions towards saving our environment needed to be the way of life for everyone like Rohit.

Addressing major env concerns

The students shared that one of the projects that Mehra undertook addressed two major environment concerns — reducing plastic waste and decontaminating the air. For this, he found single-use plastic bottles to be the best option and started building vertical gardens across the country.

Mehra also introduced the unique concept of “seed balls” to these young minds. Under this, seeds are wrapped in clay enriched with nutrition for their growth. These are thrown around wherever free space is available so that they can sprout into plants. The students were amazed to hear that Mehra and his family have distributed them at langars, rath yatras and at a number of other public events.