THE BIDHANNAGAR HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY:

They recently celebrated Forest Week by distributing about 250 plants at their CF Block address.“We’re giving three plants per person, and they can give us in writing their preferred choice of plants. We’re giving six fruit varieties, seven flower varieties, and many leafy varieties,” said secretary Goutam Kumar Paul. “The big demand this time is for the Land Lotus and especially the Buddha Jui, which is a fragrant white flower.” Pratima Ghosh had her eye on fruit plants. “I eat fruit all day and already have plants like Chiku and Pomegranate at home,” said the HB Block resident. “Growing plants is an expensive hobby, and it would be cheaper for me to buy fruits than to grow their trees at home with the best supplements and fertilisers, but I also love gardening.” She took home Mango, Kul, and Guava. Some attendees took plants not just for themselves but for the community. “I usually take a sapling and plant it in the AE Block green verge. This time I took Jamrul,” said Tapas Sengupta. The venue was CF 1, a plot that used to be a littered, vacant lot till the block association entrusted it to the society. Now the group keeps the lawn manicured and grows plants there too. One of the members, Uma Mukherjee, was as eager to see the lawn as she was to take home plants. “I’ve a vested interest in this plot,” Mukherjee laughed. “When I visited Uganda, I got two Avocado plants, one that I planted at home and the other here. The one at home was destroyed by careless construction workers, so my sentiments are all on this plant now.” Mukherjee has, in fact, moved out of her rented house in CF Block and shifted to Santragachhi, but she came all the way for this event. “I’ve made such good friends here that I had to come,” she said, picking up saplings of Malta and Amrapali to take home. “I’ve even got some Nandini and Cactus saplings to gift my member friends.”

WORKSHOP FOR THE BLIND:

The LB Block-based Workshop for the Blind celebrated Environment Day for the first time this year through song, poetry, and in attendance were guests like Bidhannagar Police Commissioner Mukesh. “The visually impaired are more conscious about the environment than the sighted,” said Tapas Sengupta, the workshop’s treasurer. He went on to describe an incident he witnessed earlier this year. “Our campus has three or four small Mango trees that we had planted ourselves. Once, a passerby walked in and tried to steal one of them. A visually impaired boy, Swapan Singh, sensed what was happening and left no stone unturned,” said Sengupta. “He lectured the thief on how much oxygen is produced by plants and forced the man to replant it after apologising. After seeing this, we felt even more determined to celebrate Nature.” Among singers on the day was Kakoli Barui, who started out as a student at the centre but is now a demonstrator, teaching others.

WARD 29:

When saplings were planted in CJ Park this monsoon, they were carried in with great pomp and ceremony on a palanquin. “We’re doing it the way it’s done in Santiniketan, where saplings are taken to the chosen spot on palanquins. It’s a mark of respect to show how important plants are to us. We would be nowhere without nature,” said mayor Krishna Chakraborty, who is also the local councillor. The chief guest was Aroop Biswas, minister for sports and youth affairs, power, and housing. As he planted a Champa sapling with actress Gargee RoyChowdhury, Krishna Chakraborty decorated the base of the sapling with tea candles and covered the plant with a festive red dupatta. “We are doing it differently this year to express gratitude to plant life,” the mayor said. “When my generation was in school, we would read about protecting the environment, but it was bookish knowledge. Now things have deteriorated so much that we barely feel the four changing seasons. Climate change is mankind’s biggest threat today, far greater than missiles or nuclear wars,” said Biswas. “So plant trees wherever you can. Even those living in apartments can keep potted plants on window sills.” Gargee shared the same message, reminding the audience that “every plant is a life that we need to protect.” Minister and MLA Sujit Bose dropped by later and emphasised the importance of trees. “Plant as many trees as you can, and don’t forget them after today.

Nurture them the year-round and they will serve you in return,” he said. A host of councillors attended the event, along with a sizeable audience that also got to enjoy music by Sa Re Ga Ma Pa artist Rishi Chakraborty after the ceremony. “The chief minister has told me that she wants Salt Lake to be completely green, and we are working towards it,” said Krishna Chakraborty, adding that about 1,000 saplings were also planted for the occasion across Ward 29, which comprises blocks AJ, AK, AL, BJ, BK, BL, CJ, CK, CL, and Sarat Abasan.

SALT LAKE GREEN LOVERS CLUB:

This group held a monsoon meet-up for members to exchange saplings at BA-CA Park. “We are primarily a WhatsApp group, but every monsoon we organise a meet-and-greet where we gift everyone saplings to one another,” said Sulata Biswas, a BA Block resident and one of the head organisers. “Members mention in advance what plants they are looking for and what they can give in return, and we facilitate the exchange on the chosen day.” The event took place under a shed at BA-CA Park and was attended by more than 50 people. “We’ve been holding these meets since 2020 and usually have up to 150 people,” Biswas said. “This year, due to a personal mishap, we wanted to keep it to 30, but it still blew up to 50.” “I’m taking home lots of Tulsis,” smiled fellow BA Block resident Soma Mitra. “This meet was planned on social media, but I’m not on any, so I couldn’t enroll to offer my plants. But I know the organisers and came to help. There were many extra Tulsis, so I’m taking them home to nurture.” Attendees like Asim Das from Chingrihata, Siddhartha Kundu from Kestopur, and Nirmal Dhar of Baguiati brought many plants to share. Subhashish Deshi, a resident of Uluberia, also attended. He has been included in the Salt Lake group due to his expertise, particularly with the Lisianthus (Nandini) plant. Last year, he had gifted these saplings to others, but many could not save them, so this year, he shared tips on their care.

BIDHANNAGAR (SALT LAKE) KISHORE SANGHA:

This group kicked off its annual community service calendar with a tree planting drive, adding greenery to the locality. “We received support from an NGO, the Bengal Tree Foundation, which provided us with 100 saplings,” said senior member Aishik Raha. “We planted them first on our club premises next to BB-BC Park, and then in parks across the ward.” The saplings were a variety of fruit trees — Mango, Guava, Jamun, and Cherry — as well as tall trees like Neem, Sal, and Peepal. The saplings planted already stood at a height of four to five feet. “Maintenance of these plants will be a joint effort between Kishore Sangha and Ward 41 of Bidhannagar Municipal Corporation. Fences have been built around these saplings, and they will be looked after until they mature,” Raha explained. Local councillor RatnaBhaumik was in attendance too. Formed in 1980, the club organises a number of social events, including health camps, charity drives, and a big-ticket Jagaddhatri puja, but they always begin their financial year with this monsoon event.