In 1998, three villages in West Bengal’s Purulia district planted 4.5 lakh trees to convert a barren mountain into a lush green forest
Up until 1997, a small hillock in Jharbagda village in West Bengal’s Purulia district had a single tree next to a small temple, which priests and a handful of locals would visit occasionally. The village, located about a 100 km from Jamshedpur, was surrounded by about 50 km of barren land and faced extreme weather conditions.
Owing to hot and humid winds blowing through the summer, harsh heat waves made human habilitation difficult for 300 families residing in the foothills of the mountain.
However, 22 years later, in 2020, the hill and its surrounding 387-acre land is covered with dense forest and is home to a variety of wildlife. Farmers can cultivate two crops per year to increase their income. This transformation in the landscape is credited to years of hard work and efforts the villagers in…