‘Saviour of Trees’ Jeeth Milan Roche Nurtures & Waters 600 plus Plants/Trees during Lockdown
Mangaluru: With a rising number of positive coronavirus cases, several parts of India have gone into lock-down, including Mangaluru. And while humans have been finding myriad ways to deal with the lock down, stray animals and beggars/destitute have ended up becoming an unforeseen casualty of the lock down. Thousands of stray dogs in our city depend on daily markets, restaurants and local good Samaritans who feed strays. But with coronavirus sending people into isolation and public establishments shutting down, strays have a hard time finding food. These strays and beggars are starving with no one serving them, since restaurants and other eateries are closed. And during such situation a animal lover by the name of Ms Rajani Shetty has been going around the City feeding these starving stray dogs during this lockdown. And taking care of the beggars/migrant workers are a bunch of Good Samaritans of NGO’s- but no one has thought about the trees/plants which are also suffering without water during this lockdown.
And while Ms Rajani Shetty has been independently taking care of the stray dogs, and NGO volunteers are taking care of the beggars/migrant workers, here is one person who has been taking care of the 600 plus plants, planted in cemeteries, and Hindu crematoriums in the city, and he is none other than Entrepreneur and Environmentalist Jeeth Milan Roche, the Founder of Mangalore Green Brigade, who is on a mission to make Mangaluru a environmental and green City. Al Gore, the 2007 Nobel Prize Winner had said, “The symbolism – and the substantive significance – of planting a tree has universal power in every culture and every society on Earth, and it is a way for individual men, women and children to participate in creating solutions for the environmental crisis.” And Jeeth is the right person to deal with the present environmental crisis- and one could name him as the “SAVIOUR OF TREES” or “A TREE DOCTOR”!
The government, City Corporation and other agencies are doing their part in transforming Mangaluru City into a greener city by planting trees. Every individual also has to realize his or her duty to protect the environment for future generations. And here is this person, 44-year-old Jeeth from Kudla, who is very much determined to make Mangaluru a “Green City”, by sacrificing his time and energy for the betterment of the environment. The well-being of humanity, the environment, and the functioning of the economy, ultimately depend upon the responsible management of the planet’s natural resources. Every Action Counts- Everyone should realize the responsibility to care for the Earth and to become agents of change, just like Jeet Roche. Every one of us, just like Jeeth should do something positive for the environment, galvanizing individual actions into a collective power that generates an exponential positive impact on the planet.
Jeet Milan has been spearheading pro-environment initiatives in the city, especially on waste management/segregation. “Smart city needs smarter waste management. Smart City, Smart People and Smarter Waste Management. In this regard it is heartening sign that the many young have taken the initiative, and are helping me in the project” he said. The Mangaluru City Corporation’s (MCC) policy on waste segregation is going to be one of the major areas of focus as citizen participation is crucial for its successful implementation. And the efforts put in by Jeeth plays an important role in this project. Jeeth also has so far, involved in transplanting nearly 26 trees which were about to be axed down during city’s development- and all these transplanted trees are quite healthy and green.
While many of the hard-core environmentalists who are only in the front to raise their voices to save trees, and are just big talk when it comes to environmental issues, but Jeeth TALKS LESS and WORKS MORE, and no BIG TALK, whatsoever, and is not looking for any awards or recognition, unlike the other name-sake environmentalists. Show me, how many environmentalists do you see out there on the streets or parks, caring, nurturing or watering plants or trees- absolutely NONE. But Jeeth along with his wife Selma, his brother Sumanth, his two sons- Ethan and Nathan- along with three dedicated young volunteers- Alwyn D’silva, Daya Lobo and Ms Vidya Shankar Shetty have been manually (using buckets/pots) watering over 600 plants that were planted by Jeeth at Nandigudda Hindu Crematory, Brahma Samaj in Babugudda, Cascia Catholic Cemetery, CSI cemetery, and also bunch of saplings planted along the City roads .
But couple of days ago, their load of work was made a little easier when Forest range Officer Sridhar provided Jeeth with a water tanker, so that he could water the plants faster and with less work load- “I am extremely thankful to Sridhar for his timely help during this time of lockdown, when no help/volunteers and vehicles are available to perform the work” said Jeeth. He and his team start watering the plants from 8.30 am until noon- and if time permits, they finish watering the rest of the remaining plants in the evening. Apart from watering the plant, Jeeth also came to the rescue of a woman who needed grass/fodder for her three cows, which was hard to get, due to lockdown- and Jeeth was quick enough in arranging two truck loads of grass/fodder- and for FREE! He and his team have also joined in providing food and commodities to the needy during this lockdown.
Jeeth Milan said “Just Planting of trees is not enough, they have to be cared for later. My aim is to make sure that the saplings would not be harmed because of its importance . We are the root cause of our own destruction. We humans are so ignorant to the damage we cause that we wait for disaster to strike. If we all take small steps by planting trees, a great difference can be made. Trust me, we all can make a difference if we act now. I will continue doing this as long as I can. Mangaluru is losing its green cover and it is disheartening to see trees disappear. Whatever we do to Nature is ultimately something that we are doing to our own deepest selves.”.
In conclusion, we all know that trees play a very important role in protecting the lives of all other living beings found around them. Most of our activities generate plenty of carbon dioxide and other harmful gases that pollute the atmosphere, and it is only trees that can convert these gases into oxygen and help counter the ill-effects. Trees take many years to grow and once fully grown, many species can live for more than a hundred years. The loss of even one tree in a vicinity can cause an imbalance in the natural wealth and health of the surrounding area. We the citizens should appreciate and support Jeeth Milan Roche’s fight to save trees/plants, so that we can a have a “Greener Mangaluru” rather that a city filled with concrete structures. We need to support his segregation idea. Long Live JM Roche and his work in bringing awareness about environment in and around Mangaluru- and his efforts in watering the plants/trees during the Covid-19 lockdown.