A nine-year-old Hyderabadi boy Aariv K Rao played the role of nature healer by planting 120 saplings in the city through his plantation drive ‘PAT My Friends’ to enhance green cover and combat climate change.
Speaking to the Pioneer correspondent, Aariv, resident of Jeedimetla village and a fifth grade student of Sunflower Vedic School said, “I love reading books and love to travel to a lot of places with my parents. During a recent trip, I came across many deserted places without a single tree. This drove my curiosity to know why and how to bring back the trees in the barren lands. Additionally, global warming is increasing every year. To combat it, we need to grow more trees. I slowly began my journey by planting saplings in different localities last year. This year, I was able to execute it along with my friends Shridha Goud, Aarohi Nayak, Ananya Shiv and Rohan Naidu. To enhance green cover, I launched my plantation drive Plant A Tree My Friends (PAT My Friends) on June 3, 2024.”
Sharing insights about his project, he stated that PAT My Friends is his dream project. The initial target of planting was 100 saplings. “However me and my friends planted over 135 saplings. We have successfully planted 120 saplings on World Environment Day. My friends played a key role in this plantation drive as volunteers. Among all, Aarohi Nayak has played a pivotal role in this drive. The key challenge is finding places for saplings and people to care for them is hard. We are overcoming this obstacle by searching for spots where the planted trees can grow strong.”
“Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has played a key role in aiding our drive with 100 young saplings while COETG Horticulture department taught us the basics of planting saplings and how to nurture them. The team also collected over 200 mango seeds from the residents of their apartment. These seeds will be further germinated under meticulous care and monitoring of the TGCOE Horticulture department.”
