City brass goes green on World Environment Day

Chandigarh: Punjab governor and UT administrator Gulab Chand Kataria led a citywide plantation drive on World Environment Day to promote environmental conservation and sustainable development. Organised under the Prime Minister’s nationwide “Ek Ped Maa Ke Naam” campaign, the initiative saw extensive participation from top UT officials, the social welfare department, and security forces.

Kataria, accompanied by his wife Anita Kataria, daughters, and family members, planted various ecological, ornamental, and medicinal tree species at Punjab Lok Bhavan. The governor noted that the campaign connects environmental responsibility with a sense of gratitude toward mothers, inspiring citizens to expand the nation’s green cover.

The involvement of other key administrative and security wings across Chandigarh began at the Sector 7 public park, where UT chief secretary H Rajesh Prasad and his family members planted saplings to highlight the administration’s commitment to ecological sustainability. Simultaneously, home secretary-cum-forests secretary Mandip Singh Brar participated by planting a sapling at the Chandigarh Bird Park.

The Border Security Force (BSF) Western Command also observed the day with a large-scale drive inaugurated by Additional Director General Satish S Khandare, who planted a sapling at the BSF campus in Lakhnaur alongside officers, troops, civilian staff, and families who planted native and fruit-bearing trees like Neem, Peepal, Ashoka, and fruit trees while emphasizing their collective protective responsibility.

Meanwhile, the department of social welfare marked the day across all 450 Anganwadi centres under the theme “Climate Action,” drawing participation from children, pregnant women, lactating mothers, and local residents in plantation drives, quizzes, and painting competitions.

These sessions focused on generating awareness and pledging allegiance to the seven themes of Mission LiFE, which include saving energy, saving water, saying no to single-use plastic, adopting sustainable food systems, reducing waste, adopting healthy lifestyles, and reducing e-waste to mitigate the impacts of climate change.