Buddhists, students aim to plant 10,000 saplings to save environment

Buddhist monks, students and local residents of Siliguri participated in a sapling plantation programme over the weekend with a motive to save the environment.

The Himalayan Buddhist Cultural Association along with others planted around 2,000 saplings near a forest area. The five-day drive aims at protecting ecosystem and making the environment greener.

"We will plant almost 10,000 trees. For this, we spoke to the forest department who gave us six hectares of land for planting trees," said Sonam Lama, the secretary of Himalayan Buddhist Cultural Association.

Fast-depleting green cover has led to scanty rainfall, drought and unseasonal conditions over the last few years. The state government's tree plantation programme would help protect trees so that they bring rains, fill up water bodies and prevent depletion of groundwater table.

Members of the association came up with this idea on the occasion of the Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama's birthday. The Dalai Lama turned 80 on July 6.