Kashi breaks China’s record, sets new global record by planting 251,446 trees in one hour

The religious city of Kashi etched its name in golden letters in the history of environmental conservation on Sunday.

In a massive tree-plantation programme held in the Sujabad Domri area of the city as many as 2,51,446 saplings were planted in just one hour, shattering China’s eight-year-old world record.

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Guinness World Records judge Rishi Nath presented the official certificate certifying this new record to Mayor Ashok Kumar Tiwari and Municipal Commissioner Himanshu Nagpal. The Guinness team was present on site since morning, verifying the accuracy of the plantings using drone cameras and a modern digital counting system.

Until now, the record for the most trees planted in one hour was held by the Henan Provincial Committee of China and the Henan Shifanghe Greening Engineering Company, who planted 1,53,981 trees on March 10, 2018. Through the Miyawaki technique and massive public participation, Varanasi not only broke this record but surpassed it significantly.

This ‘urban forest’ has been developed on an area of 350 bighas, divided into 60 sectors. Each sector is named after one of Kashi’s famous Ganga ghats—Dashashwamedh, Lalita, Naya, Manikarnika, Kedar, Chaushatti, Manmandir, and Shitala. In the future, these trees will grow and create a lush green ‘Mini Kashi’ on the banks of the Ganga.

On average, over 4,000 trees were planted in each sector. These include 27 native species like Sheesham, Arjun, Teak, Bamboo, fruit trees like Mango, Guava, Papaya, and medicinal species like Ashwagandha, Shatavari, and Giloy. This project will not only protect the environment but will also become a source of income for the Municipal Corporation in the future.

Teams from the Indian Army (39 GTC, 34 GTC, 39 GR, 137 CFTF-TA), NDRF, CRPF, Civil Defence, Uttar Pradesh Police (36 and 39 Battalions PAC), Namami Gange, Forest Department, Agriculture Department, DUDA, and Municipal Corporation played a vital role in this historic campaign. Thousands of students from Kashi Vidyapeeth, UP College, Dehradun Public School, Mukularendam School, NCC cadets, and NSS volunteers transformed it into a mass movement.

BHU Vice Chancellor Prof. Ajit Kumar Chaturvedi, Mayor Ashok Kumar Tiwari, Legislative Council member Dharmendra Rai, MLC Hansraj Vishwakarma, Ashwani Tyagi, and Municipal Commissioner Himanshu Nagpal were present. The mayor, emotionally speaking, said, “This is a unique confluence of spiritual peace and modern economics.”