We all know that increasing pollution and lack of greenery in the city is a concern. At the same time, due to lack of space and time, people find it very difficult to plant and take care of trees. But, what we are going to tell you today, along with planting trees on the terraces of his house, motivates others in the city to plant. We are talking about Santosh Mohta, a 59-year-old CA from Kolkata. He has been gardening at his home for the last 15 years. He takes care of these plants, taking time out of his busy routine. Santosh has also started an organization, named ‘Concern For Earth’, three years ago to promote gardening in the city. Through this organization, he gives free gardening tips, cutting of plants, seeds etc. to people. In addition, he also gives plants and pots to people for gifting. It would not be wrong to say that he is running a nursery from his home.
Talking to The Better India, Santosh said, “I love trees and plants and greenery. In the village, we see greenery, but in the cities, we are longing to see greenery. Earlier this thing used to bother me a lot. So, to bring greenery around me, I started with Terrace Gardening. ” Currently, you will see more than 2500 plants on their 300 square feet terraces, including more than 200 varieties of plants.
Their garden has all kinds of seasonal vegetables and medicinal plants. These include fruit plants such as mango, guava, berries, papaya, sitaphal, pomegranate, as well as large trees such as peepal, banyan, neem. To grow the plants properly, he has also taken gardening training from Kolkata’s ‘Agri Horticulture Society’. Talking about the problem of the Terrace Garden, he explains, “My house is very old. Initially, due to increasing load of pots on the terrace, the house was starting to crack, but I found a solution for that too. I started using cocoapeat, removing the soil from all the pots. Which reduced the weight of the terraces significantly. ” In addition, he also uses wooden and plastic light compartments with clay pots.
Concern For Earth
●Santosh, talking about the introduction of Concern For Earth, says, “Impressed by my garden, many of my office friends and acquaintances used to come to me for gardening information. I noticed that there are many people who want to grow plants at their home, but cannot grow due to lack of information. To help such nature lovers, I formed an organization named ‘Concern For Earth’, where I give free gardening tips to people as well as help in setting up their garden. ”
●Santosh believes that on birthday or any other special occasion, people should give a green gift i.e. a plant gift. So through this institution, he provides many varieties of medicinal and ornamental plants for gifting. He himself plants plants in different ornamental flower pots, decorating them as gifts. These plants really become an excellent gift for gifting after decorating in pots of jute, terracotta, glass, wood, bamboo etc. Their price ranges from 100 to 5000 rupees. In addition, he also writes information related to the plant in the pot, its use and its care. So that whichever plant he gets, he can look after it properly.
●In the Corona era, when plants like Giloy, Tulsi, Ashwagandha, etc. with medicinal properties are being used more and more, Santosh is doing the work of giving Giloy saplings free to the people on behalf of his organization. Also, he gives information about the maintenance of Giloy’s plant. He says, everyone must plant a plant with medicinal properties in their home.
●In addition to this, Santosh, instead of throwing away the wet waste from the kitchen, makes manure and puts it in the trees and also teaches other people how to make compost in this way.
●This institution of satisfaction is registered with the West Bengal Society. In addition, he has also created a Facebook page in the name of his organization, where you will get all the information easily.Santosh, through his unique organization, has helped more than 300 people so far.
By: Rupali Thakur.