Civil engineer begins life's second innings with green drive

RAJKOT: A 42-year-old civil engineer from the city has decided to give up his profession for the green cause.

Dinesh Patel, who worked as a private civil contractor for a number of companies, has taken up a mission to increase the green cover in Rajkot. He has started distributing saplings free of cost from his house.

"I have always loved planting and nurturing saplings. Carrying forward my passion, I have decided to create awareness among people about the importance of conserving the environment," he told TOI.

Patel is hopeful of distributing over 11,000 saplings in the city within the next 10 days. "I began this drive on Sunday and till evening, over 700 saplings were distributed," he said.

All those who come to take the saplings are explained how to take care of the plants, save them from stray cattle and how to nurture them.

"I give them a detailed explanation about the plantation process and the role of trees in saving our environment," Patel said.

"I plan to distribute 11,000 saplings, but there is no limit. I will continue to distribute them free of cost till people keep coming to me," he added.

Patel's son Rishikesh has also joined him in the mission. In fact, he scored 99.82 percentile in class 10, and he has planted 100 trees so far-one tree for every per cent he scored in the examinations.

"There are over 60 different species of saplings and I explain to people the importance of each of the species'' Patel added.