kolkata: Bhaiphonta was celebrated uniquely in Sunderbans on Thursday as school children accompanied by their teachers walked across the muddy river bank and went into knee-deep water to offer phonta on mangrove trees.
Mangrove offers a natural barrier against natural calamities, particularly cyclonic storms and at the same time protect groundwater aquifers from seepage of seawater, thereby ensuring water security for the coastal population.
"We have involved school children in awareness regarding the importance of mangrove conservation through various activities in the recent past. School children from Indraprastha and Digambarpur villages under Patharpratima block on Wednesday walked a long distance across the river bank to offer phonta on the mangrove trees. They were accompanied by their teachers and Joint Forest Management Committee (JFMC) members. Our forest division only supported them in their initiative," Milan Mondal, Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), South 24-Parganas said.
The children carried posters with messages regarding the importance of mangrove plantations.
Many of them wore masks of tigers as they took part in offering phonta to the mangrove trees.
A shelter belt of over 15.54 crore of mangroves and its associated species have been created in the coastal belt of Bengal since May 2020 after the severe cyclonic storm Amphan dealt a telling blow to the mangrove cover in the state.
The massive plantation exercise was executed in 6500 hectares of predominantly non-forest land in
Bengal in three coastal districts- South 24-Parganas, North 24-Parganas and East Midnapore. The exercise ended in January this year.