Rebuilding ‘Green Odisha’..! Assuring afforestation in Cyclone Fani hit areas, Maharashtra rolls 10 lakh absolute seedballs

News Bharati    24-Jun-2019
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Pune, June 24: Viewing to rebuild green Odisha after the devastating Cyclone hit the state, a group of environmentalists in Maharashtra’s Pune city, headed up making 10 lakhs seedballs to help restore the forest cover, assuring green plantation there on a mass scale.
 
Cyclone Fani, one of the worst to hit the state since 1999, affected the forest cover of Odisha to an extent that it lost more than fifty lakh trees. While evacuation and rehabilitation of humans was given topmost priority, the beloved forests were left unattended.

 
 
Staying true to the ethos, the Kamat properties introduced an initiative to build the state green, combining all its efforts to make 10 lakh seedballs in less than a month. Local communities such as PULA – Pune Ladies, Dhruv Foundation, JCI, Blue Ridge International School further helped in rolling the absolute seedballs.
 
These seedballs were made after diligent talks with environmentalists to ensure that only indigenous seeds were planted. Seeds of trees such as Neem, Peepal, and Banayan were used for the project as they help actively in producing more oxygen.

 
“We plan to plant as many seedballs as possible before the onset of monsoon to ensure they bloom into magnificent trees. This is our way of giving back to Odisha, where we've run our hotels for 10 years now. This is our home and we'll try our best to rebuild its green cover”, said Dr Vithal Kamat of the Kamat Hotels.
 
Meanwhile, the PULA Pune Ladies contributing actively to the initiative said that it felt good giving back to society and that it was the least they could do to help rebuild Odisha.
 
Seedballs are simply made by mixing mud, compost and water to make a dough like consistent material, which is then rolled into balls. The seed then is planted in the centre and the ball is rolled again. The advantage of these seedballs is that they can be thrown in areas otherwise inaccessible by foot. Also, these seedballs are easy to plant as compared to saplings.