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Assam boy plants 1,000 saplings to boost oxygen amid pandemic

ByBiswa Kalyan Purkayastha
Jul 03, 2021 06:22 PM IST

A nine-year-old boy in Cachar district of Assam has started planting nearly one thousand saplings after hearing of many Covid-19 patients struggling due to lack of oxygen

A nine-year-old boy in Cachar district of Assam has started planting nearly one thousand saplings after hearing of many Covid-19 patients struggling due to lack of oxygen. His motive is to increase oxygen in the atmosphere, HT has learnt.

9-year-old Abhinab Deb. (HT photo)
9-year-old Abhinab Deb. (HT photo)

Abhinab Deb, a Class 3 student at Delhi Public School’s Silchar unit, hails from Borjalenga area under Assam’s Dholai constituency. Being a tree-lover, he never allows the felling of any tree at his house or the neighbouring areas. Since he heard about issues of lack of oxygen among the Covid-19 infected patients, he pledged to increase oxygen in the atmosphere by planting trees. Deb has requested his parents to help him protect the saplings.

Talking about his initiative, the nine-year-old said, “I have heard that people are dying because of lack of oxygen. My teachers have said that trees are the only source of oxygen and we can increase oxygen by planting and preserving the trees. I want to protect each and every tree in our area and would also like to plant more and more. I have started planting saplings on my birthday and this will go on still I make my entire area full of valuable trees.”

His father, Ajoy Deb, is a businessman and also a social activist. “Abhinab is always conscious about plants and their lives. He creates pressure on us to plant new saplings and never allows felling any tree in our house. He has a lot of queries about how trees generate oxygen and what is the impact of cutting the trees. Even his teachers say that they are a bit scared of his questions. But, at this age, Abhinab is a positive thinker and as a father, it is my responsibility to support him.”

Abhinab was planning the plantation drive for several months but it was on his 9th birthday on Friday when the family started with the planting. They are planning to plant saplings along a 2.5-kilometre road which starts from Chotojalenga Part-2 and ends at Nagathal village. Along with the family members, some locals have also joined their forces in fulfilling the little boy’s dream.

Bulti Deb, Abhinab’s mother, informed that her son is also against the killing of animals. She said that he doesn’t support the killing of animals for food. He loves fruits and prefers eating vegetarian items.

“Initially we used to laugh at him and tried to convince him but now he has started convincing us with his determination. We have learnt that it is not always the seniors who teach the kids about good values. Sometimes the kids also teach us great lessons with their innocent ideas. My husband and I are supporting his initiative of growing more trees in our area. It is just a small step with a big dream,” she said.

Borjalenga comes under Assam forest minister Parimal Suklabaidya’s constituency. There are villages where people have started growing available trees with the help of the forest department. There is a tea garden under the Dholai constituency named Jalinga, which is keeping a 225-hectares-long rainforest to preserve valuable trees. The forest is also home to some rare species of birds and animals.

Owner of the tea garden, Ketan Patel, said, “We are keeping the forest untouched where we have several valuable trees. Besides, many rare birds and animals are also being protected in the land. There are rare trees like Himalayan Rudraksha and many other. Forest officials visit the rainforest to look after the rare birds and animals living here”, he added.

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