A photo from open sources
On January 18 of this year, at the age of 96, Visheshwar Dutt passed away Saklani is an ordinary, at first glance, old man, who, nevertheless, was very famous in his homeland – in India.
“The Man of the Uttarakhand Trees,” as he was nicknamed compatriots, committed in life, it would seem impossible. A passionate lover of nature, he personally planted millions trees, turning the badlands around the native village into dense green forest.
A photo from open sources
Saklani adored plants from early childhood. He first buried in the earth was a seed when he was three years old and more than eight decades old he admired the planted tree until the man failed his health and he not lost sight. However, by then this amazing man has already planted over five million trees – and once the deserted hills surrounding the village of Pujargaon grew picturesque forest.
Saklani’s love for trees, which he fondly called his children and best friends, was known to everyone around. However few knew that Visveshwar was partly engaged in this good deed in order to survive the pain of losing the closest people.
A photo from open sources
The man had a brother Nagendra, who died during the riots. in the country. When this happened, heartbroken Visveshwar became whole days to disappear in nature, planting trees. Then, in 1958, his wife died, and the man, again, to muffle the pain irreparable loss, almost continuously engaged in what he planted on hills seeds of rhododendron, bombax, guava, Himalayan oak, ficus, sycamore and other trees.
Over time, villagers fell in love with the green surroundings and paid back a tribute to Saklani, however, this was not always the case. At first they mocked the “eccentric” countryman, cursed with him and even complained to officials as Vishvesvar used to land state lands. Despite this, the man was adamant in the desire to surround the village with forest and eventually received from the local authorities permission to plant trees.
A photo from open sources
He carried out a voluntarily assigned mission to the very old age and stopped its work only in 2009, when completely lost his sight. In total, Saklani planted about five hundred hectares of land. In 2015, the “tree man Uttarakhand” received an honorary award from the Ministry of the Environment and Forestry India.
Residents of Pujargaon believe: despite the fact that their great countryman died, his noble spirit continues to live in oaks and ficus, which the man loved so much and to whom he devoted most of his long life.
A photo from open sources
Time Life India Plants
