Governor tells VCs to go for big plantation drive on World Environment Day

West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar on Friday urged Vice Chancellors of state universities to go for a big plantation drive in their campus on World Environment Day on June 5 as a large number of trees were uprooted by cyclone Amphan. Dhankhar, also the Chancellor of state universities, said in a letter, individually addressed to VCs of all state universities, that maximum efforts can be made to plant more trees within and next to the campus on that day.

Asked about Dhankhar's appeal to the VCs, Education Minister Partha Chatterjee told reporters it appears the governor has suddenly become alive to the issue of uprooting of trees and plantation whereas the state government has been working on the issue for long in a consistent manner. "Does he (Dhankhar) know how many universities have trees in compound? He is suddenly talking about uprooting of trees in universities, what about trees having fallen in the entire city, all over the state," Chatterjee said.

"He is talking about trees today, fine, but our chief minister had been advocating tree plantation for long. Good, he is talking about trees today, but he can talk about myriad other issues like the Centre not releasing funds due to state, which he is not doing... he is tweeting on a regular basis, he should have known about the Centre's financial package in the same way," the minister said. The governor in the letter to the VCs said "The state has been severely stressed on account of COVID-19 as also nature's fury - Amphan to large parts of the state. Amphan has caused heavy devastation including to environment and ecology." Calling upon the VCs to avail the opportunity of World Environment Day on June 5, the governor said, "the emphasis should be on sustainability of the existing plants as also the ones to be planted.

"The theme of the 2020 World Environment Day is Celebrate Biodiversity. Attention to this may also be bestowed," the governor said. The governor also requested the VCs to file a full report "about all steps taken in this direction by June 15." He expressed confidence that if steps are taken in a spirit of total commitment, "we can achieve wholesomely on the point of plantation and that would more than compensate the loss we have suffered on account of Amphan." Snehamanju Basu, Registrar of Jadavpur University, where many trees had fallen during cyclone Amphan, said "we are yet to get the letter of Hon'ble Governor. But as we hear the contents of the letter from you, we will certainly go for a plantation drive in JU on this day like earlier occasions." PTI SUS RG RG