Sakal Times
How did Tarumita come into existence ?
The seeds for the foundation of Tarumitra, a students’ environmental movement, were laid in 1988 with my talk at a school in Patna on the issue of pollution. The talk clicked, and one of the students was so inspired and motivated that he suggested that the school students take out a rally in Patna to create awareness on the need to save the Earth. The rally did take place with students enthusiastically campaigning for the need to care of Mother Nature. The students felt that there should be an organisation exclusively devoted to create awakening among the student community. They named the organisation ‘Tarumitra’. Most of the student activists in the organisation are from eighth to the tenth standards.
How do you function ?
In 1994, the St Xavier’s School in Patna offered Tarumitra a 10-acre plot for a plantation. We have transformed it into a thick forest with over 450 varieties of trees including some very rare medicinal and other plants. It is indeed a paradise for botany students and other researchers. Tarumitra’s office is located here and the premises is also used for conducting residential camps for sensitising students coming from different parts of the country. At a time, 50 students reside there for three to four-day camps. Before returning to their respective cities, most of the students take with them saplings of some rare medicinal plants (sold at a very nominal prices of Rs 5 each).
What activities are taken up by Tarumitra members ?
Tarumitra students have taken out massive rallies, organised demonstrations, resisted felling of trees and forests, built roadside gardens, raised rare trees in genetic nurseries on campuses of schools and other institutions. They also undertake long nature-treks, clean up garbage dumps, work for protecting migratory birds, campaign for proper repair of roads for reducing vehicular pollution and launch crusades to protect bio-diversity.
The Brahmakumaris at their headquarters in Mount Abu in Rajasthan have shown what care needs to be taken to be ecologically sensitive. The Brahmakumaris have used various environmental-friendly means to cater to the lakhs of visitors to their headquarters. The large solar panels there cook meals for nearly 24,000 visitors everyday.
Tarumitra, working with a Swiss physicist Wolfgang Scheffler, has also set up a plant to fabricate parabolic solar cookers along with the traditional solar panels to harness solar energy. The students have set up parabolic solar cookers in a park in Patna to demonstrate non-conventional, clean forms of energy. Tarumitras activists also cook hot snacks on the solar cookers for interested passers-by.
Tarumitra student activists have turned over a dozen garbage dumps into beautiful roadside gardens and named them as ‘oxygen belts’. There are a total of 38 roadside green belts in Patna. Each garden is ‘adopted’ by a school or a plant nursery. The students clean the sites, work the soil, plant seeds, flowers and trees. The students also campaign against use of plastics and polybags. They distribute specially made cotton bags as a substitute for the polybags. The Buddhist monks of Bodhgaya have also supported the campaign.
Which are the major ecological issues you take up ?
Conservation of bio-diversity, organic farming and conservation of energy are the three major issues Tarumitra has been concentrating on in the recent past. The importance of plantation has been well understood in society with many organisations taking up the cause. But the issue of conservation of electricity has been much ignored. Our natural resources are bound to dry up in future and everyone needs to save power as much as possible. So much coal is utilised to generate one megawatt unit of electricity and if people realise this, they may think twice while illuminating their rooms, houses or other structures.
Shveta Mirandi, a Tarumitra volunteer studying in eighth standard, has been very active in popularising use of CFL bulbs to conserve electricity. She also met Patna archbishop Wilson D’Souza to urge him to avoid illumination of churches during Christmas. The archbishop was so moved by the girl’s appeal that he issued letters to all churches in the archdiocese, asking them to avoid illumination, and instead conserve electricity ! During Diwali, Tarumitra volunteers urge people to light up their houses with earthen oil lamps rather than electricity bulbs.
Tarumitra volunteers work actively for better roads in order to decrease the level of vehicular pollution. They formed a seven-kms long human chain to draw people’s attention to the poor condition of the city’s roads. Once, a badminton match was held in the middle of a main road in Patna, attracting thousands of students and onlookers to highlight the sorry condition of the road.
Since 2005, the Bihar government has granted a license to Tarumitra to check vehicles and issue Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificates. A van equipped with the machines (co-sponsored by Caritas) moves around the city in Patna and checks polluting vehicles with active support from the ministry of transport. Students from the schools learn to operate the machines.
What have been major achievements of Tarumitra ?
Tarumitra has succeeded in inspiring lakhs of students all over the country to voice their concern on ecological matters. Yugratna Srivastav, a ninth standard student from Lucknow who has been an active member of Tarumitra since 2006, was selected to speak at the United Nations Environment Programme in New York in 2009. This was for the first time an Indian girl student got an opportunity to speak at the world forum, where and even US President Barak Obama took note of her speech. She also interacted with the United Nations Secretary General Ban-Ki-moon. We want more and more youths to be ecologically sensitive.
Tarumitra - NGO for young eco-activists
Sunday, October 23, 2011 AT 08:48 PM (IST)
Tags: TARUMITRA, ROBERT ATHICKAL
Tarumitra (friends of trees), a nationwide students’ movement, has been campaigning for sensitising various sections of society on ecological issues. During the past two decades, Tarumitra has motivated lakhs of school students to speak out on the need to save the Earth, not only in different parts of the country but also at world forums. Patna-based Tarumitra coordinator Robert Athickal, who has been associated with the organisation since its inception, was in Pune on Saturday to address school principals, students and teachers of 50 schools in the district. CAMIL PARKHE spoke to him.How did Tarumita come into existence ?
The seeds for the foundation of Tarumitra, a students’ environmental movement, were laid in 1988 with my talk at a school in Patna on the issue of pollution. The talk clicked, and one of the students was so inspired and motivated that he suggested that the school students take out a rally in Patna to create awareness on the need to save the Earth. The rally did take place with students enthusiastically campaigning for the need to care of Mother Nature. The students felt that there should be an organisation exclusively devoted to create awakening among the student community. They named the organisation ‘Tarumitra’. Most of the student activists in the organisation are from eighth to the tenth standards.
How do you function ?
In 1994, the St Xavier’s School in Patna offered Tarumitra a 10-acre plot for a plantation. We have transformed it into a thick forest with over 450 varieties of trees including some very rare medicinal and other plants. It is indeed a paradise for botany students and other researchers. Tarumitra’s office is located here and the premises is also used for conducting residential camps for sensitising students coming from different parts of the country. At a time, 50 students reside there for three to four-day camps. Before returning to their respective cities, most of the students take with them saplings of some rare medicinal plants (sold at a very nominal prices of Rs 5 each).
What activities are taken up by Tarumitra members ?
Tarumitra students have taken out massive rallies, organised demonstrations, resisted felling of trees and forests, built roadside gardens, raised rare trees in genetic nurseries on campuses of schools and other institutions. They also undertake long nature-treks, clean up garbage dumps, work for protecting migratory birds, campaign for proper repair of roads for reducing vehicular pollution and launch crusades to protect bio-diversity.
The Brahmakumaris at their headquarters in Mount Abu in Rajasthan have shown what care needs to be taken to be ecologically sensitive. The Brahmakumaris have used various environmental-friendly means to cater to the lakhs of visitors to their headquarters. The large solar panels there cook meals for nearly 24,000 visitors everyday.
Tarumitra, working with a Swiss physicist Wolfgang Scheffler, has also set up a plant to fabricate parabolic solar cookers along with the traditional solar panels to harness solar energy. The students have set up parabolic solar cookers in a park in Patna to demonstrate non-conventional, clean forms of energy. Tarumitras activists also cook hot snacks on the solar cookers for interested passers-by.
Tarumitra student activists have turned over a dozen garbage dumps into beautiful roadside gardens and named them as ‘oxygen belts’. There are a total of 38 roadside green belts in Patna. Each garden is ‘adopted’ by a school or a plant nursery. The students clean the sites, work the soil, plant seeds, flowers and trees. The students also campaign against use of plastics and polybags. They distribute specially made cotton bags as a substitute for the polybags. The Buddhist monks of Bodhgaya have also supported the campaign.
Which are the major ecological issues you take up ?
Conservation of bio-diversity, organic farming and conservation of energy are the three major issues Tarumitra has been concentrating on in the recent past. The importance of plantation has been well understood in society with many organisations taking up the cause. But the issue of conservation of electricity has been much ignored. Our natural resources are bound to dry up in future and everyone needs to save power as much as possible. So much coal is utilised to generate one megawatt unit of electricity and if people realise this, they may think twice while illuminating their rooms, houses or other structures.
Shveta Mirandi, a Tarumitra volunteer studying in eighth standard, has been very active in popularising use of CFL bulbs to conserve electricity. She also met Patna archbishop Wilson D’Souza to urge him to avoid illumination of churches during Christmas. The archbishop was so moved by the girl’s appeal that he issued letters to all churches in the archdiocese, asking them to avoid illumination, and instead conserve electricity ! During Diwali, Tarumitra volunteers urge people to light up their houses with earthen oil lamps rather than electricity bulbs.
Tarumitra volunteers work actively for better roads in order to decrease the level of vehicular pollution. They formed a seven-kms long human chain to draw people’s attention to the poor condition of the city’s roads. Once, a badminton match was held in the middle of a main road in Patna, attracting thousands of students and onlookers to highlight the sorry condition of the road.
Since 2005, the Bihar government has granted a license to Tarumitra to check vehicles and issue Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificates. A van equipped with the machines (co-sponsored by Caritas) moves around the city in Patna and checks polluting vehicles with active support from the ministry of transport. Students from the schools learn to operate the machines.
What have been major achievements of Tarumitra ?
Tarumitra has succeeded in inspiring lakhs of students all over the country to voice their concern on ecological matters. Yugratna Srivastav, a ninth standard student from Lucknow who has been an active member of Tarumitra since 2006, was selected to speak at the United Nations Environment Programme in New York in 2009. This was for the first time an Indian girl student got an opportunity to speak at the world forum, where and even US President Barak Obama took note of her speech. She also interacted with the United Nations Secretary General Ban-Ki-moon. We want more and more youths to be ecologically sensitive.
