BENGALURU: The children of Whitefield have started a ‘Parenting a tree’ initiative.
As many as 32 children below the age of 10 have adopted trees and planted them on ECC Road in Whitefield.
Various native species, like neem, honge, peepal, jamun and other flowering plants were planted.
The kids even pledged to water and take good care of the trees.
The volunteers from Namma Whitefield got the trees from one of the nurseries of the Karnataka Forest Department and gave it to the children.
The kids planted the trees and gave them nicknames as per their choice. For example, 8-year-old Zenia Mehrish and her 2-year-old sister Haiza Mariam adopted two trees and named them Rolly.
“These days we only find dirt everywhere. If we keep our city green, then pollution levels will also decrease. I will water my sapling and keep a check on it every day,” said Mehrish.
Seven-year-old Nivam Kanungo’s sapling was rechristened Prince.
“Trees give us food, shelter and oxygen for free. We have medicinal trees too. If we cut trees, it is like damaging our Mother Earth. I will always take care of the tree,” he said.
Namma Whitefield, the volunteer group that initiated this plantation, said they conduct such initiatives in order to teach children about caring for trees from a young age.
“I wondered how to get people connected to nature. I figured it would help to get children to adopt saplings and nurture it for a year or two, till they are able to stand on their own. With this, the child would have developed a lifelong bond with the tree,” said Sandeep Anirudhan, co-founder of Namma Whitefield.