Berhampur: Mohan Charan Dash from Kalyanpur village under Digapahandi Block of Ganjam district in Odisha is in the limelight for his contribution for green revolution. He has planted more than 10,000 trees in his lifetime. Moreover, he has turned a bald hill into a green forest after taking help from the Forest Department. And for his tough effort and precious achievements he has been felicitated with the prestigeous Prakruti Bandhu award.
Mohan Charan Das is now aged 76 years. He has turned old, however his love for trees has not turned old yet. The tree lover has planted about ten thousand trees in a bald hill to turn it into a green forest.
Every day in the morning he takes out a spade and goes either to his field or to the hill on his cycle to take care of the planted trees and to plant some new ones.
Mohan Charan is popular in the area by planting various trees such as teak, white murdah, banyan, sacred fig, Bahada (Terminalia bellirica), date palm and Guharia.
The Gaida hill is near his village. Once this was merely a bald hill without a single plant. But now, it has turned green as Mohan Charan has created a green environment here after taking help of the Forest Department.
Mohan said that it is necessary to improve the environment so that the water coming from the hills can be utilized by the farmers. Recently, he has now brought 500 palm trees to plant. He said that while weaver birds nest in babul (Acacia nilotica) trees, they will also nest in palm trees.
Seeing that the weaver birds were nesting in the fifty palm trees he planted earlier, he decided to plant a thousand palm trees. Along with this, Mohan has tried to find out how water can reach the pond near the Bhujangeshwar temple located near the hill.
Due to his love for trees, Mohan was felicitated with the Prakruti Bandhu award in 1989. He was also awarded by the State government in 2015 for his contribution towards green revolution.
Appreciating works of Mohan Das towards creation of green environment, a number of people have now supported him. The villagers said that the hills have become green after the planting of trees, and that it fulfils the demand for wood when someone dies in the village.
After planting the trees, the environment has turned beautiful while the area is receiving ample rainfall. Besides, the nearby farmlands are getting irrigated.