Plant a tree

Many scientists and visionaries have predicted that water scarcity is one of the worst disasters the mankind is about to encounter in the coming days.

This can lead to riots, chaos and even wars. Crumbling of agriculture based economy in villages, mass migrations of people to cities and social disorders due to poverty. The irony is that this situation is not caused entirely by the short supply of water, but due to the mismanagement of available water resources. Scientists have already suggested solutions to arrest the problem. Many NGOs are out there in the field to implement those scientific methods to preserve this most essential and valuable resource on earth. River Kumudavathi Rejuvenation Project undertaken by Art of Living Foundation is one such important initiative in this direction.

In response to this crying need of our society, Uthishta also have started to participate in Kumudavathi project. Our volunteers along with volunteers from AOL have visited a village called Mahimapura, which is fourty kilometers north east of Bangalore off Tumkur road. Like hundreds of other villages, this village also falls in the watershed area of river Kumudavathi. Various water preservation programs such as construction of recharge wells, check dams and planting of trees are going on in this entire area. Any such work in this area not only revives the local water sources like wells and village ponds, it also helps the Kumudavathi river to rejuvenate and thus hundreds of villages down streams get benefited. Uthishta have taken up the task of planting trees in this village and have already dug up around 400 pits with help of JCBs and manual labor. Right now we are in the process of procuring the tree saplings of local varieties.

An appeal

We plan to drive down to Mahimapura on Sunday, the 21th of July & 4th August and plant the trees in pits dug up by us. We would like to have the participation of the maximum number of volunteers in this task. This will give us a rare opportunity to serve the society through one simple act of planting few saplings. This will be a great experience for all of us and even our kids to get the first hand knowledge of the village life of Karnataka and the nature and it's mechanisms. In tune with Uthishta's commitment to see our projects bear fruit, we are in touch with local volunteers to find out ways to take care of the trees thus planted.

We invite philanthropists and well wishers to come forward and support this project in whichever way you can. It requires funds too to maintain the trees by providing fences, and for employing care takers. We promise you that, if this project is implemented as planned, the positive results can be felt within a short time - in the next couple of years in the form of recharged wells, improved green cover and flourishing ecological system.

Come and join hands with us ! Enjoy the happiness and satisfaction of doing our bit in a great initiative like this. It will bring positive changes in the lives of thousands of people as well as birds and animals and other living creatures to whom we all in fact owe a lot.

mayi sarvamidam protham
soothre mani ganaa iva

(Everything exists in me and is connected to each other through me just like the beads by the string – Bhagavad Gita 7.7)