Coimbatore : “About 242 crore trees should be planted on Cauvery banks in the next 12 years to regain the glory of the Cauvery river system which is a lifeline for farmers and the people of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka,” stated Jaggi Vasudev. “As a first step, the planting of 73 crore saplings will commence soon on behalf of the Isha Foundation,” he added.
Coimbatore : “About 242 crore trees should be planted on Cauvery banks in the next 12 years to regain the glory of the Cauvery river system which is a lifeline for farmers and the people of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka,” stated Jaggi Vasudev. “As a first step, the planting of 73 crore saplings will commence soon on behalf of the Isha Foundation,” he added.
Recently, in an attempt to conserve the river Cauvery which is the lifeline of people in South India, for posterity, Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev launched a campaign known as 'Cauvery Calling.' The project was designed to restore the Cauvery river, its ecosystem, restore perennial flow and to increase the income of the average farmer five to eight fold by means of Agroforestry.
To create awareness about this project in villages along the Cauvery river basin, Jaggi Vasudev flagged off the rally in front of the 112-feet Adiyogi statue.
Vanathi Srinivasan, the BJP General Secretary, Eswaran, the General Secretary of Kongunadu Makkal Desiya Katchi, Krishnasamy, the Founder of Puthiya Tamizhagam Katchi and actress Radhika Sarath Kumar participated in the event.
The 'awareness vehicles' that were flagged off from Coimbatore will be travelling to 28 districts in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The awareness vehicles will visit each taluk and park in the most crowded areas to create awareness among the public through videos and distributing pamphlets. A meeting will be held in the Taluk headquarters during weekends, in which villagers and farmers will be encouraged to participate.
56 vehicles, two per district, are being used for the awareness campaign. Over 140 field workers and experts of Isha Foundation are taking part to conduct a comprehensive presentation on Agroforestry, highlighting its environmental and economic benefits.
Addressing the media, Jaggi Vasudev said, “Over 83 percent of farmers are suffering from depression. We should not be mute spectators when the people who provide us with food commit suicide. This rally is the first of a program planned for eight years. The rally will cover 4,000 villages in Tamil Nadu and a 1,000 villages in Karnataka, by which the benefits of tree farming will be explained."
He further added, "As a second phase of the campaign, a rally is to be held on September 2 from Talacauvery, Kodagu District and Karnataka to Tiruvarur. The media should help in getting everyone involved in this project which will be implemented non-stop for the next 12 years. It should not be considered as an initiative by a private organization. To plant 242 crore saplings, 33 nurseries have been set up and talks are on to avail 800-acres of a coffee estate in Karnataka for the purpose. It will be good if they give us 4,000 acres."
Sadhguru also stated that in addition to these initiatives, efforts are on to get Government and private lands to set up a nursery at a distance of 50 km from Cauvery, Mysore. He also added that the Isha Foundation will be training farmers on growing tree saplings.
"Apart from increasing saplings, plans are afoot to use technology to grow saplings from leaves. To help us with this, scientists from the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University and the Indian Institute of Science and Technology have come forward," said Jaggi Vasudev. He also added, "The two states have expressed their sincere support for the project and since it does not require huge funds, the State Government does not have a huge burden."