Van Mahotsav

Van Mahotsav

Van Mahotsav or Vanamahotsava, lit. 'Forest festival', is an annual one-week tree-planting festival in India celebrated in the first week of July. By encouraging Indians to support tree planting and tending, festival organisers hope to create more forests in the country. It would provide alternative fuels, increase production of food resources, build shelter belts around fields to increase productivity, provide food and shade for cattle, offer shade and decorative landscapes, reduce drought, and help to prevent soil erosion. The first week of July is just the right time for planting trees in most parts of India since it coincides with the monsoon.

History

With the onset of the monsoon, tens and thousands of saplings are planted all across India and the festival literally is the celebration and creation of new life. Van Mahotsav was started back in the year 1950 by K.M. Munshi, who, back then, was a Union Minister for Agriculture and Food. 

The main aim of this Mahotsav is to create enthusiasm and awareness amongst the masses. During this festival, each and every citizen of India is expected to plant a sapling during the entire Van Mahotsav week and pass it on to the next generation. 

Thankfully, the tradition and celebration continue to date and are being passed on to the next generation as well. 

Objectives of Van Mahotsav

Some of the objectives of this festival, as envisioned by Dr Munshi are:

• To increase fruit production
• Help in the creation of shelter-belts across agricultural fields to increase productivity
• Furnish fodder leaves for cattle to reduce grazing intensity in reserved forests
• Prevent soil infertility and boost soil conservation
• Provide shade and decorative trees for added aesthetics to the landscape
• Supply small poles and timber for fencing, agricultural implements and house constructions.

Importance of Van Mahotsav

Greenery, as a whole, helps in maintaining ecological balance. Since trees are such a vital part in the ecosystem, it is the duty of each and every individual to preserve vegetation and root for a healthy, pollution-free environment.

However, due to urbanisation and industrialisation, more and more trees are cut down every day. Deforestation is an emerging concern and Van Mahotsav week aims to combat the environmental imbalance caused due to this action.

Here are a few statistics that highlight the importance of this movement:

• According to a study by The Global Forest Watch, in 2019-2020, India had to let go of around 38,500 hectares of tropical forest. This is an almost 14% tree cover loss. As a result, the entire tree cover area in the country decreased by 0.67%, and the region consisting of tropical forests fell by 0.38%.
• Over the last decade, deforestation has caused a total of 16% loss in the forest area.

It is evident that forests are under constant threat due to obnoxious human activities. Van Mahotsav is an exemplary move to prevent the country’s vegetation from fading away.

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