Ten
Minutes of Greenery on July 15

State Govt. calls upon 6 lakhs population of Sikkim
plant saplings, flowers

Staff
Reporter, SIKKIM EXPRESS

GANGTOK, July 07: You must have enjoyed your
‘Fifteen Minutes of Fame’ at sometime in your life. Now get ready
to spend 10 minutes of your life for Mother Nature. Reinforcing its
projection as a Green State, the State government is set to add another
chapter in its environmental security measures by launching a unique
initiative called ‘Ten minutes to Greenery’ in Sikkim that seeks
public participation in an unprecedented scale.

Under
this ‘Ten Minutes to Greenery’ programme,
the State government seeks to consolidate its green initiative where the
government has decided that ‘each one of the six lakhs
population of Sikkim’ should plant trees and flowers for ten minutes on
July 15. The operation ‘Ten Minutes to Greenery’ will be held
10.30 am on July 15, informs a government notification issued today. You can
do some planting in just anywhere in the 7096 sq kms
territory of Sikkim on that day

To
make this unique programme successful, the State
government has decided to carry out the plantation in all towns, villages,
office, public premises, school compounds, premises of government offices of
both State and Central governments, public sector undertakings, premises of
the army and paramilitary forces and private lands so that every individual
participates in this unique plantation programme. The
six lakh population of Sikkim who has been given a
call by the State government includes the local people, migrant population
and those in the army and other paramilitary forces.

This
‘Ten Minutes to Greenery’ exercise follows the environment
conservation programmes of the State government
like the State Green Mission that have become very popular and effective in
increasing the forest cover of the State to 46 percent. The State government
has been able to make people of Sikkim environmentally conscious to promote
the way of life and culture in harmony with nature, the notification reads.

The
State forest department has been made the nodal agency to implement the
latest exercise successful. The forest officials explain that Chief Minister Pawan Chamling was very much
interested in cementing the love for nature among the mindsets of the people
of Sikkim. The Chief Minister had wanted the people of Sikkim to dedicate ten
minutes of their life to plant one sapling or flower in any place, it is
informed.

This
kind of programme will be unique and first in the
nation, the forest department said. Sikkimese
people are traditionally with environment, the forest officials said. The
department will be setting up district level task forces in all the four
districts for this purpose. There are no problems for saplings and people can
plant any sapling or flower in this coming problem, it is informed.

The
State government will be embarking on extensive publicity drive to create
awareness to the entire population of Sikkim for the planting exercise. Area
MLAs and panchayat members will also be conductive
similar exercises in their respective areas.