Green efforts break down

Green efforts break down
Relentless campaign of treesforfree to keep Bangalore green and beautiful is under threat because of a car
SAHANA CHARAN


This could mean fewer trees near your home. And fewer trees means more pollution and less rain. For the last four years, treesforfree, a voluntary organisation, has helped Bangalore city retain its tree cover by planting saplings all over the city. Until now, the volunteers of the organisation have planted more than 13,000 trees in different parts of the city and outskirts, all for free.
But now, the tree planting crusade started by Janet Yegneswaran, president of treesforfree, may come to a halt. All because of a car. The nine-year-old Maruti Zen car that Janet uses for all her tree planting expeditions has broken down.
“All these days, Janet and her volunteers would go all around town in the car planting saplings. As the car cannot be used now, the tree planting has stopped. But tree cutting continues in city. I hope people come forward to help the cause of treesforfree,” says Vinod Lal, who works in an advertising agency and volunteers for treesforfree.
Janet formed the Rajanet Yegneswaran Charitable Trust and launched her campaign through www.treesforfree.org in November 2005 in memory of her husband R S Yegneswaran. An exemplary man, Yegneswaran got his degree studying under streetlights and went on to enter the Limca Book of Records for the highest number of University degrees — in all he had 30 masters degrees, three bachelors degrees and fourteen diplomas in subjects as varied as Archaeology to Defence Studies.
For Janet, planting trees has been her way of giving back to nature. “I used to carry 25-30 saplings for planting all over the city in my car with three to four volunteers. In a day, we would cover at least four to five areas. The overload has taken its toll on my car and now it’s broken down. This has put a spoke in the wheel for our efforts. We have appealed to volunteers to help and I have received a positive response from some of them,” says Janet.
If you want treesforfree continue its tree planting efforts, call 9845449703 or check out the website www.treesforfree.org.