Vanamahotsava Marks 8th Anniversary of Mangalore Bicycle Club
Mangaluru: The year 2016, which marked the 5th-anniversary celebration of Mangalore Bicycle club (MbC) also saw the launching of the initiative of Vanamahotsava for the club members. In 2016 the Club and its members had decided to celebrate Vanamahotsava every year with the onset of Monsoon an ideal time to plant trees. In the first year of its launch, 50 Saplings were planted at Prakash Offset Premises, Baikampady. In the year 2017, the members did the seed bombing on the stretch of Tannirbhavi. In 2018, the 3rd year of Vanamahotsava celebration by the club and as part of the 7th anniversary, 10 saplings were planted in 7 households.
On June 30, at 6:00 am, 35 members from MbC and Cycling buddies assembled at the City Corporation and pedaled 25 km through the city to reach the venue of Vanamahotsava celebration. This year being the 8th Anniversary of the club, members planted 8 saplings at “Chirag” the residential property of Vimala Ramachandran in Valencia.
The positive response from Vimala and her family members was the evidence from the time, members of the club approached her seeking permission to plant the saplings. Their warm welcome and wholehearted support to nurture the plants was a real inspiration to the club members to continue the good work towards mother earth.
Speaking to mangalorean.com General secretary of the Club Ganesh Nayak said, “Today we have celebrated Vanamahotsava by planting saplings at Vimala’s house in Valencia. One of the club members, Late Raheem Teekay had a long term association with this family. Recently we had lost dear Raheem Teekay. Raheem Teekay was a guide and mentor of the club since the beginning and we are sure to have his continued guidance.”
On the occasion, Mrs Vimala handed over copies of Late Raheem Teekay’s book ‘Mallige Balli’ to MbC members on request of his son Rahil and the entire Teekay family. They also distributed Mallige flowers to all our members as a token of love and appreciation towards cycling.
The interest expressed by the family in joining hands with the club for this initiative is acknowledged with utmost gratitude and their willingness to take care of the saplings and spread this awareness deserves to be mentioned. The Saplings were taken and the area for planting was prepared in advance to ensure smooth flow of events and they were all eagerly waiting for the MbC troupe to arrive in the morning.
Saplings which were picked for planting had medicinal properties, fruit-bearing nature and also included the ones which produce high levels of oxygen. Special thanks to Mr Radhesh Bhat from Tapovan, Kinnigoli, who is a NITK Graduate and a passionate environmentalist for sponsoring us the saplings from his organic farm.
As a club with many environment-friendly members, we continue to educate and do our bit to the environment through green environment initiatives. Vanamahotsava celebration is a tradition we as a club will continue forever to inspire and create awareness for the generations to come.