Over 2 lakh saplings planted in one hour !

Tribune News Service

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Bathinda, October 30

Organisers of a tree plantation drive at Talwandi Sabo Power Limited (TSPL), Mansa, today claimed to have planted 2.06 lakh saplings within an hour and made a world record during a campaign carried out on the thermal plant premises near here today.

The drive, if approved by the Guinness Book of World Records authorities after acceptance of an audit report, will beat the previous best record of plantation of 1,00,450 saplings within an hour by the ‘Men of the Trees’, at the Whiteman Park, in Perth, Australia.

A survey of the drive is being conducted by the DNVGL, an independent Denmark-based verification and audit agency, which will submit its report to the Guinness Book office within a couple of days. Ramesh Rajamani, head supervisor of the audit agency, expressed satisfaction the way the exercise was conducted.

“We will do a proper follow-up based on feedback of stewards and documents before compiling a final report which will be officially accepted and released only by the Guinness Book,” he said.

Vishal Agarwal, CSR head, said: “Over 6,000 supporters from schools, surrounding villages and locals volunteered in the mammoth exercise. Considering the small forest cover in Punjab, these additional trees will help improve the biodiversity in the region and specifically in Mansa.

Philip Chacko, CEO, TSPL, said: “More important than mere plantation, we are more concerned about a follow-up programme to ensure survival of the diverse plantation, including ‘neem’, ‘shahtoot’, ‘sesham’ and ‘pongamia, besides others.”