Radhika Anand, a 52 year old resident from Delhi has planted over 1,10,000 fruit trees in the past 12 months. She used her own money and resources, with a small contributions from her friends to carry out the green drive.
She planted a mix of mango, tamarind, gooseberry and blackberry, jackfruit trees around Army Formations across North India, Rajasthan and Maharashtra.
Radhika is the daughter of a former Air Force officer. Her passion for the environment goes back all the way to her childhood. 20 years ago, she started a self-funded organisation named Plantology (www.plantologyindia.com) to take up green initiatives across the country.
Over the years, she has partnered with the Ministry of Environment, Delhi Government and corporate organizations to conduct workshops and to educate Indian youth about the importance ecological conservation. The better Indian reports that she has organised over 500 workshops with the Delhi Government since 2006.
She has utilized the money she earned from the workshops to fund the plantation project. The Indian Army is also backing her up and has come forward to help maintain the plantations.
Radhika now aims to plant over 200,000 trees by early next year. A large number of these plants will be planted in commemoration of fallen Indian soldiers under the ‘India Remembers’ programme initiated by the Center for Armed Forces Historical Research (CAFHR).
