Are we living up to the “Plant Trees” or “Save Water” dream?
Updated: Jul 11, 2023
Excursion. Deviation from a regular activity or course. This is very necessary to take in everybody’s lives and I personally, have been neglecting it for way too long but that’s a story for another day. The excursion I‘m going to talk about is one that was part of a lecture I had in college recently.
We were asked to go out on the street and click pictures of things or situations that portrayed how “Save water” and “Plant Trees” is not a reality. We were then asked to share our story. So, here it is.
I decided to go to a lane which I always find very peaceful and amazing even though it’s in Bombay and right next to my college. We found the following two pictures there. I went with three other people who were cute enough to take the lane I suggested.
The first photograph shows a tree growing onto a building but if you really think about it, it was first the building which replaced a couple of trees to be built there and then another tree leaned on it. So, a multiplicity of trees were replaced by one lucky tree. We noticed this just as we were walking through the lane.
The second photograph below has a funny story behind it. We were walking further down the lane or street, when I feel a few drops of water falling on me and I look up and jump as I save myself literally an inch from being completely drenched in water. Then, as I was looking up to better understand what happened, another bucket was emptied right in front of my eyes and luckily, one of the other people with me took a quick picture and video of it happening.
What was happening was that one of the staff working in that building threw a bucket of waste water or unneeded water onto the streets just like that and to add onto that, it was a government hospital. So, not only were they wasting precious water but the people doing it were the ones who should be telling us not to or already are.
The photograph couldn’t capture the exact action because it was a normal phone camera and we were at a distance as the water was being thrown from the 2nd or 3rd floor which is why the above story was very essential.
Now, another detail of the 2nd photograph that was brought to our notice was a plant growing through the cracks of the government hospital building. We were asked to figure out how it came to grow there and I found the following. I have mentioned the sources at the bottom of the blog.
“Some plants, not all, have the ability to grow on buildings. If you wonder how they got in there, the answer is seed dispersal agents (wind, animals, birds etc). Crows and pigeons are good examples. They eat fruits along with seeds but the seeds don’t get digested easily and comes out when they excrete. When these excreta falls on buildings and if the conditions favor plant growth, the seed germinates. They generally grow on cracks and holes in buildings because water gets collected in it, keeping moisture intact for the roots and the soil in cracks is more penetrable than a newly painted wall. That’s why you can see such plants in old buildings and not in new ones.”
“Seeds dispersed through air, animals etc. land in the cracks and crevices of buildings and establish there. These range from ephemeral (quick grow reproduce and die) types to perennials visible up there all the time.
Water is essential for plant survival and their requirements are met by intermittent rainfalls, episodes of dew or leaking plumbing/drainage.
Some of these plants have an awful ability to survive through prolonged intermittent droughts and hence seem to carry on.
Ficus species ( religiosa) is one such notorious species. If established in the vicinity of a leaking drain it manages very with the available moisture. Gets all its nutrition from traces of soil and concrete mineralization. Over a period of time its root system may rip apart the brick and mortar walls and result in serious damage to the building”
Therefore, I would like to conclude by saying that it is very obvious that “Save water” and “Plant trees” is not a reality but what there is very urgent need for, is for us to think about how to overcome this disconnection with nature that we’ve habituated ourselves into or how to overcome this disjoint that has led us into becoming “blind following the blind” kind of people. I, on an individual level, am trying to think of some solutions and when I come up with even one or two solid ones, I will surely share them with you.
Do you have any ideas on how to tackle this? Please feel free to share your thoughts to me in the comment section below. Also, if you liked this blog or related to it in any manner, please don’t forget to like, comment, share it with your family and friends. And for further blog updates, follow me on my Instagram handle https://www.instagram.com/helzeeblog/ and also on WordPress. See you next time! Till then, always remember, Be brave. Be strong. Be great. ♥
P.S.- Most of the above pictures have been clicked by one of my talented classmates, Anjali Sebastian.
“If you love the Earth, it will love you back.”
-Anonymous
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