Pune's Green Hills group

For the last four years, a group of dedicated ecology-conscious citizens has been looking after the green cover on Chatushrungi hill. The dedicated bunch, called the Green Hills Group, launched a community-based tree plantation drive on the plateau atop the hill. Their efforts have now resulted in the Vruksha Mandir, a protected tract of land that’s home to some 2,000 trees. The trees, that include peepal, gooseberry (aamla), wild fig, neem, rain tree and bel, cover some ten acres of the plateau. The Vruksha Mandir will be formally inaugurated in the third week of January. “We saw the acres and acres of barren plateau as a fine way of involving society in protecting our ecology. Also, thanks to the presence of the much-revered Chatushrungi temple, we could also convince people to plant trees here in the name of faith,” explains Sanjay Athavale, a member of the group who coordinates the Vruksha Mandir project. Volunteers from the group visit the hill every Thursday and Sunday morning to water the trees, collect dried leaves and cut overgrown grass. Corporate employees, NGOs and various youth organisations have also lent a hand to this cause. The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has also extended support to the group’s efforts. Beginning from this year, the civic body will provide saplings for the drive. The PMC gave some 300 saplings this year and it sends two water tankers every month to the plateau to water the trees and saplings. This is in addition to the four tankers with a capacity of 50,000 litres hired by the volunteers for the purpose. A poster exhibition on the plateau itself is now in the pipeline. “The posters will feature the variety of trees planted and the different species of birds and animals seen here,” informs Athavale. During Navratri this year, the volunteers collected around three tonne of ‘nirmalya’ at the Chatushrungi temple. This is stored in a tank on the plateau and will be used as fertiliser for the trees. “We also plan to build small stone walls around each three,” says Athavale. The shepherds living in the vicinity also extend help to the group. “Earlier, a large part of the plateau was used by the shepherds for grazing their cattle. Many of the trees planted by us were being eaten by the animals, so we decided to speak to the shepherds. Today, they cooperate with us and help us protect this part of the hill,” says Athavale. Athavale and his team are not content with the success of the efforts on Chatushrungi hill. “We now want to replicate this initiative on other hills as well,” he says.