DSGMC urges varsity freshers in 9 colleges to plant saplings

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Managment Committee (DSGMC) has launched a mega plantation drive to mark the 550th birth anniversary year of Guru Nanak Dev, by planting one lakh trees in all historic Delhi gurdwaras and Sikh education institutions said DSGMC president Manjinder Singh Sirsa.

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, August 12

The Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Managment Committee (DSGMC) has launched a mega plantation drive to mark the 550th birth anniversary year of Guru Nanak Dev, by planting one lakh trees in all historic Delhi gurdwaras and Sikh education institutions said DSGMC president Manjinder Singh Sirsa.

DSGMC in its green initiative has made it mandatory for all freshers at nine colleges in Delhi University, managed by the committee, to plant 10 trees from current academic session to celebrate Guru Nanak Dev’s love for nature and propogate his hymns which Sikhs recite as a daily prayer, “pawan guru paani pita mata dharat mahat” which literary means “air is our teacher, water is our father and earth is our mother” thus encouraging masses to protect the planet from threats posed by climate change and global warming, said Sirsa.

With this move, around 55,000 new environmental friendly species are likely to be planted this year by fresher students who got admission in nine colleges run by the DSGMC.

The tree plantation drive will be treated as one of their college projects and marks obtained under the project would be added in annual result . They will be required to undertake tree plantation in college campus, civic bodies land, around their homes, vacant government land and submit the report highlighting the status of the trees planted by them accompanied with photographs on an annual basis.

The DSGMC will start distributing free saplings from Sikh shrines namely Gurdwara Rakab Ganj and Gurdwara Bangla Sahib which are visited by largest numbers of devotees daily.

The DSGMC procures tree saplings from private nurseries, government institutions like NDMC, MCD, DDA for its free distributions and plans to double the tree plantation target by next five years.

Green assignment

Students will be required to plant trees in vacant lands and submit a report highlighting the status of the trees planted by them on an annual basis
The tree plantation drive will be treated as one of the college projects and marks obtained under the project would be added in annual result