: Unsung Hero Turns Dry Land Into Mini Forest, Helps Save 1.2 Million Litres of Water/Year #IndiaNEWS #Environment When Sasikanta Dash was appointed as the principal of Puducherry’s Tagore Government

Unsung Hero Turns Dry Land Into Mini Forest, Helps Save 1.2 Million Litres of Water/Year #IndiaNEWS #Environment
When Sasikanta Dash was appointed as the principal of Puducherry’s Tagore Government Arts and Science College in 2017, he was surprised to see a vast area of the campus lying unattended. In the expansive land of eight acres with only a handful of really old trees, Dash saw an opportunity to build a mini-forest.
He spent the next four years planting varieties of saplings and replanting 2 to 3-year-old trees. He roped in students and college staff in the effort and ensured that the survival rate of the forest did not drop below 99%.
And it didn’t.
Today, the barren land is covered in green with a total of 3,000 trees comprising fruit-bearing, creepers, vegetables and native flowering plants.

On a Wednesday rainy morning, as the myna chirps in my balcony, Dash pans his camera and takes me through the forest while he talks about what motivated him to undertake this effort, the process of converting a dry land into a forest, and how he saved lakhs of litres of rainwater every year to aid forest growth.
‘My grandparents are my inspiration’
Dash was born and raised in Odisha’s Gajapati district in the lap of nature. His grandparents were gardening enthusiasts. He says that planting saplings in the backyard and watching them grow remains his most cherished memory. He completed his studies in Bhubaneshwar and took up a teaching job in 2001 in Arunachal Pradesh’s Bomdila region.
There he saw locals rampantly burning wood without replenishing it. So with help of a few college students, Dash carried out plantation drives, something that he would go on to implement in every college he was posted in.

“As a history professor, I have taught in a couple of colleges, from Dehradun to Karaikal. Tree plantation drives with students are easy to carry out and are also an effective bonding exercise. I believe every campus must have its share of greenery to provide a pleasant environment to the students. When I was transferred here, this place was gloomy. I wanted to change the atmosphere and also assure students that I was approachable. Planting trees ticked both the boxes,??? Dash tells The Better India.

Dash first built benches around existing trees to encourage people to sit amidst the “woods???. He then planted 200 plants of basil, followed by neem. The idea was to showcase the success of plantation drive as basil is the easiest to maintain and has air-purifying benefits. Meanwhile dry or fallen leaves of neem make for excellent manure.
In addition to this, Dash also focussed on creating a huge rainwater harvesting pit. The college sits on a higher belt, which means rainwater runs off easily. He dug a 6045 ft pit with a depth of 10 ft.