Shovels, tree saplings, water tanker, handcart: Unique environment loving teacher making Anand green

Kalpesh Patel, a teacher at Adaas Tabe Vasanthapura Primary School in Anand taluka and a native of Vijapur taluka in Mehsana district, was once one of those people, who has loved trees since he was a child. Every morning and evening, this nature-loving teacher plants saplings with shovels, tree seedlings in an iron handcart, and a water tanker to ensure that future generations will have clean air.

Climate change has wreaked havoc on the environment, and all around the world, resulting in a slew of issues. Only by conserving and cultivating as many trees as possible can we overcome this enormous problem. The initiative started first, and others must be encouraged to join.

“After starting as a teacher at Vasana Primary School in Khambhat taluka of Anand district in 2008, I taught a range of courses to the students, including Social Science, where I taught them about the importance of trees. It came to me that while I was studying about planting, nurturing, and caring for as many trees as possible, I was not doing the task of planting trees. I am inclined to take what I learn and put it into practice.” Kalpesh expressed his dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs.

Patel started by planting trees in the school, and every year brought saplings from the Forest Department nursery on the school letterhead and started planting trees in the school with the staff. Gradually, Patel developed an interest in planting trees after engaging children in this activity.

From buying saplings from the nursery of the forest department to cultivating them in the school every year, Patel has planted trees across Govindpura village. He planted trees and raised them in the society where he lives; in 2019, he collected about 500 saplings from Van Chetna Nursery Gandhinagar and planted them in Govindpura village.

With the support of volunteer organizations, around 500 trees were planted in Anand in 2019. Every Sunday and on holidays from the year 2019, he has been planting seedlings with Vriksha Ganga Abhiyan, Dia Team, and Yuva Gayatri Parivar Anand. 

He encourages people to plant trees on their birthdays, anniversaries, and other special occasions; Patel also provides them with instructions on how to take care of them and nurture the greens. He also teaches the children about the usefulness of trees during the educational work and makes them responsible for planting one or two trees every year.

Social media helps him spread the word to plant trees as much as possible by getting tree planting information from social media, forest department officials, and others, along with doing tree plantation work for two hours every morning.

Written by:
Shristi Chatterjee