Mumbai: To commemorate late industrialist Ratan Tata's first birthday after his demise, Mission Green Mumbai planted 100 saplings at Jankalyan Nagar, which is one of the most polluted residential localities in Mumbai. The NGO was inspired by Tata's dedication towards increasing the green cover and has pledged to organise tree plantation drives on all his future birth anniversaries.
Padma Vibhushan Ratan Tata, whose demise was grieved by not only Indians but by people from across the world, would have been 87 years old on Saturday if he was alive. However, on his first birth anniversary after his death on October 9, a Mumbai-based NGO celebrated his birthday in a green way.
Mission Green Mumbai commemorates Ratan Tata’s first birth anniversary after his death with a tree plantation drive in Jankalyan Nagar | File Photo
Mission Green Mumbai, an NGO which works on increasing tree cover in Mumbai, organised a plantation drive on Saturday asking people to dedicate a tree to Tata. Around 50 people from across the city joined the drive and planted around 100 trees in two hours at the Government General Hospital in Malad (W)’s Jankalyan Nagar. While people planted various species of Banyan tree in the hospital vicinity, they also took along with them Arica Palm saplings to plant them around their residences.
The NGO was inspired by Tata’s dedication towards a green future after its founder Subhajit Mukherjee had heard Tata speaking at a plantation drive at Mumbai’s Tata Gardens ten years ago. Since then the NGO has dedicated itself towards increasing Mumbai’s green cover and planted 80,000 trees in the last ten years.
Mission Green Mumbai commemorates Ratan Tata’s first birth anniversary after his death with a tree plantation drive in Jankalyan Nagar | File Photo
While Mission Green Mumbai commemorated Tata’s first birth anniversary after his demise in a very humble manner, they plan to organise plantation drives on large scale from next year. The NGO has pledged to organise a special plantation drive every year on the late industrialist’s birth anniversary.
“I just had an opportunity to listen to him speaking about green cover and since then, he has been our inspiration. He had said that we should plant one sapling on each birthday and he used to follow it too. Since he is not here to plant a sapling on his birthday, we have tried to continue the tradition with his principles and planted 100 trees, and will hopefully continue it till we are alive,” said Mukherjee.
