Vaishno Devi Shrine Board's Aerial Seed Dispersal to Combat Soil Erosion in Hills

Sri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB) launches a campaign to disperse seeds using drones in hard-to-reach hill regions. CEO Anshul Garg highlights 17 lakh manually planted trees in a decade and an 80% survival rate. The initiative aims to mitigate soil erosion and landslides.

The Sri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board (SMVDSB) in Katra has embarked on an ambitious campaign to scatter seeds aerially in hard-to-reach hill regions. The initiative, overseen by Chief Executive Officer Anshul Garg, aims to combat soil erosion and landslides, especially in areas inaccessible to manual planting teams.

Garg, while speaking about SMVDSB's decade-long reforestation efforts, noted, 'In the past 10 years, around 1.7 million plants have been planted manually, boasting an 80 percent survival rate. Our high-tech nursery cultivates around 150,000 plants annually, which are then transplanted to the Trikuta hills.'

The campaign marks a significant shift towards tech-driven environmental initiatives. 'Following directives from LG Manoj Sinha, we are now using drones for seed dispersal in areas where manual efforts are impractical. This will help alleviate soil erosion and prevent landslides,' Garg added.

Additionally, to promote environmental sustainability, the SMVDSB launched the eco-friendly practice of distributing plants as souvenirs to devotees. As part of this initiative, Garg inaugurated 'Vaishnavi Vatika' at the Niharika Complex in Katra, making plants from their nursery available to tourists at nominal charges.

'We offer about 40 varieties of flowering species and plan to expand this initiative to Jammu and other regions,' Garg said. In alignment with these efforts, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the 'Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam' campaign, encouraging citizens to plant saplings as a tribute to their mothers, sharing pictures with the hashtag #Plant4Mother.

The initiatives coincide with World Environment Day, observed annually on June 5, which was established during the 1972 Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment.