DMI's Greening Drive at Bihta Campus Site

Following the ‘Jal-Jivan Hariyali’ initiative of the Government of Bihar and the guidelines issued by the Government of India, advising each academic institution in the country to take up a tree plantation drive under the banner, 'One Student, One Tree', the Development Management Institute (DMI), Patna organized a tree plantation programme. The event was organized on the 11th August, 2019 at Bihta on the 15 acre site where DMI’s permanent campus is coming up.

The inaugural sapling was planted by Shri Anup Mukerji, Chairman, Board of Governors, DMI followed by planting of one sapling each by the entire team of Faculty, Managers, Staff and over a hundred participants of DMI’s Post Graduate Programme in Development Management (PDM). Watching the participants sweat profusely, Shri Mukerji exhorted them that the tree plantation was an investment for the future of our environment and they would need to work hard towards it. 

The planting material was a mix of timber, flowering and fruit bearing perennials like Mohogani, Neem, Gulmuhar, Jhadul, Amaltas, Kachnar, Guava, Amla etc. The uniqueness of this plantation drive was the initiative of the students to utilize used PET water bottles for drip-irrigation under the guidance of Professor S Rajeshwaran. Each sapling was provided with drip irrigation using one or two-liter PET bottles, with two cotton wicks inserted at the bottom of the bottle such that the root system of the sapling gets 24x7 water supply. It is expected that the survival and growth rate of the plants will be maximized with the zero cost micro-irrigation. Since the PET bottles will be filled from the top, once in 2 or 3 days depending on the rate of absorption of water by the sapling, efficient use of scarce water resource is ensured while re-using the waste plastic bottles. 

The tree plantation event was supported by the Forest Department of the Govt. of Bihar who provided 50 percent of the planting material from their nursery on a cost basis. 

Prof. Hemnath Rao, Director DMI thanked all the students, faculty and staff for participating in the greening drive in the right earnest with enthusiasm and commitment and contributing to a ‘Green Campus’ in the making.

View Gallery