Omkar Dattatray
It is the novel and maiden campaign initiated by the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi and is rightly called Eak Ped Maa Ke Naam.The PM Modi has launched Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam campaign on the occasion of world Environment Day. Shri Modi planted a Peepal tree at Buddha Jayanti Park in Delhi. On this occasion, he has urged all to contribute in making our planet better, clean and free from pollution and informed that in the last decade ,India has undertaken numerous collective efforts which have led to increased forest cover across the nation. This is great for our quest towards sustainable development, Modi further added. The Prime Minister posted a thread on X .”Today on World Environment Day ,delight to start a campaign Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam. I call upon everyone ,in India and around the world,to plant a tree in the coming days as a tribute to your mother. Do please share a picture of you doing so using Plant for Mother or Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam. Modi also said ”This morning I planted a tree in line with our commitment to protecting Mother Nature and making sustainable lifestyle choices. I urge you all to also contribute to making our planet better.” It would make you all very happy that in the last decade, India has undertaken numerous collective efforts which have led to increased forest cover across the nation. This is great for our quest towards sustainable development. It is also commendable how local communities have risen to the occasion and taken a lead in this. This shows how much is the PM Modi concerned with the environmental protection and conservation so that our planet will remain a good place to live. It also showed how much importance is Modi giving to safe environment free from pollution and degradation. In fact the Sanatan Dhrama that is called Hinduism gives top most significance to the environment protection. Our scriptures from very ancient times have placed high importance to environment and its protection. Not only this, Hindus have been from the ancient times the worshippers of the environment in its various forms and manifestations and it shows how much importance has been attached to environment by Hinduism. It also shows that our scriptures place much significance to environment protection and exhort us to protect environment for our selves and for the future generations. Thus it is not for nothing that Hindus are the worshippers of the various forms of the environment so that it is safeguarded for the coming generation in order the our children will live a safe ,simple and good life.
Nund Rishi also known as Shiek-ul-Alm has said many many years ago” Ann Poshe Teli Yali Van Poshi-meaning that food will last till there are woods and therefore we should protect forests and abstain from felling trees which are important for the preservation and protection of the environment and so this will lead to happy and safe life on the earth. This also shows that our seers were very much concerned with the protection of the environment for the betterment of the lives of the people. It also exhibited that our seers and Rishis were very farsighted and were the advocates of the preservation of the environment in those good olden days. Their exhortation is very much relevant and needed in the present day world and so we should make sincere efforts to protect ,conserve the environment not only for ourselves but also for the future generations. Modi has set the tone for planting a tree on the world environment Day and the Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam campaign has received a good response across the country as throughout the country there has come good news of planting a tree to save the environment. LG of Jammu and Kashmir UT has also participated in ”Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam” plantation drive ,which was launched by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The LG Manoj Shina planted a sapling of Golden Cypress at Raj Bhawan Srinagar as a part of the campaign. On this eve he urged the people to join the campaign and plant a tree as a mark of respect and honor for their own mother and dedicate themselves towards protecting environment and Mother Earth. Senior officers of Lt. Governor’s secretariat also participated in the plantation drive and planted tree saplings in the Raj Bhawan premises. It is so good that senior officers and officials across the nation have participated in the plantation drive of the PM Modi. But it should not remain as a mere formality and we should make it our habit to plant trees with our mothers or for their honor and throughout year we should sincerely and vigorously plant trees to protect environment and make the earth a worth living place not only for ourselves but for our future generations too. There is great need and necessity of planting tree so that our environment is preserved and safeguarded for our and our future generations and our Mother Earth becomes a worthwhile place to live. Environment gives us clean air, water, food, materials and space for recreation. Spending time in nature is good for our physical and mental health. If we do not take care of the planet, its climate and ecosystem, we undermine how our societies function, worsen our lives and, perhaps most directly, harm our well-being. In fact caring for the environment is caring for ourselves. Nature is the foundation of our health and well being. It gives us clean air, water, food, materials and space for recreation. We should conserve our environment to maintain the ecological balance ,the sustainability of the ecosystem, and protection from the harmful UV rays of the sun. If we do not take care of the planet ,its climate and ecosystems ,we undermine how our societies function, worsen our lives and perhaps most directly, harm our own well-being. To put it simply, everything that we need to survive and thrive depends on the nature. In continuing to harm nature, we are damaging the very systems that underpin our health and well-being and compromising future generations. It underpins our economy, our society, indeed our existence. Our forests, rivers, oceans and soils provide us with food we eat, the air we breathe, the water we irrigate our agricultural fields for good crop. We also rely on them for numerous other goods and services we depend on for our health, happiness and prosperity. In fact planting trees helps in protecting the environment and it enhances continuity of life. The world has limited resources, and rapid consumption of these resources by humans has led to severe environmental degradation. Failure to protect the environment is a crime as it means that we do not care about future generations. By protecting and conserving natural resources we help to ensure that they are available for use not only today, but in the future as well. We should plant trees and take other positive steps to preserve and protect the environment for ourselves and for our future generations. Let us plant trees and save the environment for safer and happier world. We should make the Prime Ministers campaign named EK Ped Maa Ke Naam successful and not merely plant trees on the world environment Day ,but make the planting of trees as our habit and plant trees to save environment for a safer and happier life.
(The author is a columnist, social and KP activist)
