Green Drive

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Meet Annanya Agarwal, a 17-year-old who has taken up the cause of planting 30,000 saplings in the schools of Rajasthan. His aim is to create awareness about protecting the environment by planting saplings and educating the masses

A Correspondent



Annanya Agarwal, studying in the United World College of South East Asia, Singapore, is on a mission. His sole aim is to increase environmental consciousness in Rajasthan, especially in Udaipur, Chittorgarh and Bhilwara district.
Under his project, ‘Green Ambassadors’, students from about 600 schools, planted 30,000 saplings in their school grounds. The students kicked off the project by taking an oath to take care of these saplings. The occasion was marked, by a short speech given by Agarwal himself, on the harmful effects of global warming and the consequences of the depletion of natural resources. By convincing each student to plant five saplings each, Agarwal made 6,000 ‘green ambassadors’ who will
bring about a change; nothing short of a ‘green revolution’ in Rajasthan.
He says, “Since my childhood, I have been conscious of my environment. I have never thrown waste on the road, nor do I use polythene bags and urge not to do either.” His booklet, called ‘Green Ambassador’ talks about the protection of the environment. Agarwal’s efforts, have brought in funds of about Rs 3.5 lakh, with contributions from friends and well-wishers, despite the fact that no donor was allowed to give more than Rs 5000.
Mahatma Gandhi once said, “The earth, air, land and water are not an inheritance from our forefathers but a loan from our children. So we have to hand it over to them, at least, as it was handed over to us.” And this 17-year-old follows this adage like a mantra. He reckons, “If each of us
takes the responsibility of protecting the environment and developing natural resources in our own way, it will make a phenomenal difference.”