A Jungle grown by a Panchayat
A Jungle grown by a Panchayat
When there is widespread deforestation in the name of development and recreation, some villages see the forestation as a indicator of development. Among these panchayats there is one such panchayat named Bhagirathpur situated on the banks of the river Budhi Gandak naturally blessed with fertile soil and high water levels.
There is a jute mill situated in the panchayat giving employment to many. To carry the mill goods Muktapur station of Samastipur –Darbhanga railways was connected to the panchayat through a 2 km long rail track. Eventually the use of Muktapur station for goods transport left that 2km of rail track comprising of about 16 acres land useless.
The panchayat soon thought of using the land for implementing plantation schemes. Finally they acquired no objection certificate from railways in august 2012 and about 10000 saplings were planted in that piece of unused land in the year 2013 using MNREGA and many more are still being planted every year. The trees grown up by now, look no less than a forest.
Vegetable intercropping was also done in the year 2014- 15 by the vanposhaks where fresh vegetables of about 5 lacs were marketed and distributed free of cost among about 300 beneficiaries. This also gave employment to many women allotted for taking care, distributing and marketing the vegetables.
