Cop Spends Rs 30 Lakh From His Own Pocket, Turns Hometown Green with 1 Lakh Trees

The turning point for police constable Devender Sura from Sonipat came during his deployment in Chandigarh, a few years ago. He was mesmerised by the beauty of the city, especially the stunning green cover that enhanced the charm of the roads and streets.

Inspired by the beautiful and well-kept greenery of the city, he decided to transform his own village the same way — by planting more trees.

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Thus, Devender set out on his green crusade in 2012, starting from his village, which eventually spread to over 152 village panchayats in Sonipat district.

Through this self-driven initiative, he has been running plantation drives across the state of Haryana for the past six years and has planted more than one lakh trees.

Today, his efforts have turned into a people’s movement, with a network of over 2,000 volunteers who are dedicated and passionate about bringing in a change in the state.

While there is a huge team and participation, it has been Devender who has funded the initiative all along by spending a significant amount of his monthly salary on his green venture. Over the past six years, he claims to have spent over Rs 30 lakh on this.

At first, his family opposed his initiative as he had to spend most of his salary on it. But eventually, they came around when people started recognising and appreciating his work.

Watch his inspiring story here:

(Edited by Divya Sethu)