Jharkhand man growing trees on barren land for 50 years

Pritam Yadav of Jharkhands Hazaribagh District has dedicated his entire life for ensuring a green cover on his eight acres of land that once used to be almost barren and rocky area.

By Gijija Shankar Ojha

Koderma (Jharkhand), July 15 : Pritam Yadav of Jharkhand's Hazaribagh District has dedicated his entire life for ensuring a green cover on his eight acres of land that once used to be almost barren and rocky area.

In 1957, Pritam made a resolution for the cause of trees after being inspired by the plantation campaign of the State Forest Department in his of Yadutand Village.

Five decades later, 80-year-old Pritam remains as determined and in love with planting saplings and taking care of trees as he was five decades back.

Pritam has kept himself confined to his village for the past fifty years, never going beyond the nearby Jhumritaliya town. He wants to devote his everyday for the upkeep of trees and plants.

Pritam Yadav, said: "I am practising this on my eight acres of land since 1957. I did all these on my own. For the last 50 years, I haven't gone anywhere to care for my plants and trees. There are two wells and a pond and I don't find any water shortage to water my fields."

He had started his initiative with bringing saplings from the nursery of the Forest Department whenever he went to Hazaribagh.

Giving a new face to his land as well as the barren area skirting the village, Pritam has planted more than twenty-thousand trees. The list includes mango, Mahua, Saal, Kendu, Khajur, Palam and many others converting the whole area into a forest.

Alongside the forests are the vast agricultural fields where crops like maize, wheat, sugarcane and vegetables are grown.

The fellow villagers who called him by names initially are all praise for him today.

Darshan Yadav, the son of Pritam Yadav, said: "Initially, the land was rocky and barren. He did all these developments on his own, without considering any difference between day and night. I feel inspired by his great work."

It's been 35 years when Pritam's wife died. But he never felt alone, as he remained all engrossed in busy planting saplings and tending plants and trees. So much so, he considers the mission of social forestry as his fourth son-not surprising, his most darling son.

ANI