Not many people would have heard of Chaupakhi, a remote village in Assam. However it could be one of the latest entrants into the Guiness Book due to an eco-friendly afforestation initiative taken up by its residents. They succeeded in planting 280,000 saplings in just 24 hours, in a bid to outdo the previous record of 254, 469 planted by villagers in Nagapattanam, Tamil Nadu.

Manoj Anand writes in the Asian Age about this tree plantation drive and the man behind it:

The man behind motivating the Chaupakhi villagers for plantation drive was M.S. Manivannam, sub-divisional officer (civil) of North Salmara, who incidentally is from Tamil Nadu.
He told reporters: “Basically our purpose was also aimed at to involve the villagers in both eco-conservation and income generation activities. As we found a vast empty plot of land, we thought why not try out for tree plantation which has both eco-conservation and economic values. Moreover, the villagers can also get engaged under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act.”

The benefits of such a mission are plenty. Besides guaranteeing an esteemed place in the Guiness Book for a hitherto unknown hamlet, it also provides employment and environmental benefits to the many residents of the place. Record or no record, let us hope the thought spreads, and such missions take root everywhere.

Read the complete article here.
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