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How Mumbai's Green Cover Was Refurbished After Cyclone Tauktae

Aatish Jaisinghani, converses with Mumbai Live about his initiative along with ‘Adopt A Tree’ / ‘Be A Tree Parent’ by the Make Earth Green Again Foundation in association with the BMC.

How Mumbai's Green Cover Was Refurbished After Cyclone Tauktae
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The recent cyclone Tauktae had battered the green cover of Mumbai, with 2,363 trees being uprooted and innumerable others losing their branches. A survey revealed that 70 per cent of the trees lost were non-native species. However, Aatish Jaisinghani, who is an author and a publicist started an initiative along with ‘Adopt A Tree’ / ‘Be A Tree Parent’ by the Make Earth Green Again (MEGA) Foundation in association with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The ‘Be A Tree Parent’ campaign was also supported by Vriksha Nursery.

Elucidating on what propelled him to take this initiative, Jaisinghani remarked, “The agency that I work with, Naarad PR & Image Strategists was instrumental in brainstorming, strategizing, sourcing, and executing entire initiative. After using and abusing our planet, it is our responsibility to move towards sustainable development. We ideated the change by invoking community participation. In association with BMC and MEGA Foundation, we were instrumental in planting trees in places of the ones that were destroyed by the Cyclone Tauktae.”

Explaining further about Mumbai’s situation during the cyclone, Jaisinghani exclaimed, “After studying the local agro-climatic conditions, including soil quality, humid weather, the BMC prepared a list of 41 native trees that can be planted in Mumbai and are part of the trees in the Konkan belt. These are Wad, Pimpal, Umber, Kanchan, Kadamba, Gunj, Palas, Nim, Mahogany, Moh, Bahawa, Sag, Arjun, Ain, Kinjal, Sita Ashok, Undal, Nagkeshar, Champa, Shivan, Shirish, Karanj, Bakul, Bell, Taman, Hirda, Behda, Coconut, Amla, Khair, Tetu, Mango, Putranjiva, Wild Almond, Bibba, Parijatak, Rita, Sandalwood, Phanas and Chafa among others.”

Considering the Cyclone Tauktae hard-hitting ramifications, the initiative aimed to join the likes of celebrities and changemakers by going for the road not taken. Jaisinghani ascertained, “The MEGA Foundation aspires to repaint the Earth green. For the same, all of us collectively wanted to mobilize the youth to help protect the environment and themselves too.”

He added, “While Dia Mirza and Gul Panag promote environment and habitat protection and natural energy resources, Rahul Bose takes on tackling climate change and John Abraham takes on powering up rural areas using solar energy thus we approached several celebrities and changemakers to be and positive influencers for the masses.”

Elaborating more about the support gained from the civic body in his campaign, Jaisinghani mentioned: “The BMC was instrumental in every role when it came to identifying fallen tree pits and executing the massive tree plantation drive. They were also of immense help when it came to manpower and equipment. The skilled BMC staff kept everything accessible and ready for the celebrity to be a part of the tree plantation activity.”

Jaisinghani strongly believes that we should start collectively opting for sustainable life choices while urgently addressing climate change and the importance of clean air. He is of the opinion that the best way to address mainstream issues is through a quirky content strategy.

Besides, the young author also managed to achieve such commendable recognition for his social work and contribution to society as he receives the IRPRA 40 Under 40 award. “I am the proud recipient of the IRPRA 40 Under 40 award for Excellence in CSR. As a 24-year-old, it is, indeed, an ecstatic feeling to be felicitated for a recognition generally awarded to senior practitioners in the PR fraternity,” he expressed.

For Jaisinghani the end goal of this initiative is to invoke community participation. Thus, taking stem from this drive, he is now, taking on causes like women empowerment, environment conservation, and healthcare apart from sustainable, rural, and social development.

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