Van Mahotsav kicks off at Jamshedpur zoo

JAMSHEDPUR: A week-long Van Mahotsav was inaugurated on Saturday with the plantation of saplings at Tata Steel Zoological Society (TSZS) here.
The saplings were planted by Satyajit Singh, conservator of forests (Territorial Circle), Jamshedpur; K Z Bhutia, divisional forest officer (Jamshedpur) and director of TSZS Vipul Charaborty.
This year the emphasis was on plantation of more indigenous varieties of plant such as Sal, Mahua, Asan, Arjun, Barh, Neem, Karam, etc besides fodder trees like Peltophoum (copperpod) and Gulmohar.About 50 students from various schools have participated in the inaugural function. In all, 15 saplings were planted on the inaugural day. The aim is to plant 100 tree and shrub saplings during the weeklong festival.
On the sidelines of the Mahotsav, a sale counter for endemic medicinal plants was also inaugurated. This will give visitors an opportunity to take home medicinal plants and shrubs for their home and kitchen garden. The wide variety of medicinal plants that are on sale include holi, basil, tulsi, turmeric, aloe vera, lemongrass, hibiscus and jaba kasum. Several private run English schools observed Van Mahotsav by planting saplings of varieties of tress. IWC Zest volunteers planting sapling at Nirmal Hriday.
Singh said Van Mahotsav, which is a pan India programme, is celebrated during this period of the year.
as plants would grow rapidly during the rainy season with minimum risk of casualty.
Singh said the greenery and forest cover in the state has increased with over 29% of forest cover recorded last year.