Project Overview
Plant a Tree Today (PATT), SAGE Foundation and INS TRATA came together on the 9th Of October, 2009 to assist Standard Chartered Bank with their pledge to plant 2000 trees as part of their "Green Your Flights" initiative in Mumbai. The site was INS Trata, Arrangal, Malad near the famous Danapani beach. The scenic Danapani beach is famous for being part of Bollywood films/photo shoots and it’s no wonder 60 of the Standard Chartered Bank staff along with volunteers from the PATT, SAGE and the Navy representatives had a blast while planting the saplings.
Project Details
The participants managed to plant 200 saplings in just one hour (8:30 to 9:30 am) which clearly shows the enthusiasm level on the day. Making this project happen was a challenge because of the rough terrain. An initial survey was done by Commander Dinesh Singh of INS Trata, Mr. Vashitwa Mishra (Country Manager, PATT) and Mrs. Maya Shahani (Chairperson, SAGE). After looking at different elements such as soil, survival rate, proximity to sea, salt water, etc. the result was the decision to plant coconut trees. Advice from local nursery contractors and the navy nursery experts has been taken into consideration to make sure the plantation is in harmony with the local vegetation.
The plantation was executed in different phases. The pits were prepared first with suitable depth and width as needed for a coconut tree. Because of the difficult terrain, earthmovers were hired to meet the project deadline. The next stage was preparing the pits by filing it partly with manure and soft soil. The last stage is to plant the saplings. Before the project day all 2000 pits were prepared for plantation. The Standard Chartered Bank staff helped in planting 200 saplings while the remaining were planted under regular supervision of PATT/SAGE and the INS Trata.
Now the 2000 saplings have been planted, inspection was done on 7th February 2010 and PATT would like to thank Standard Chartered Bank who acted as the sole funders of the entire project. Kudos once again also to all the project participants for making it a fun and successful planting day.
