The Green India Challenge inaugurated its 9th edition, planting 1,000 veturu (riparian) saplings at former MP Santosh Kumar Bably’s site on the Godavari banks — part of a larger plan to establish a 99-lakh-plant retaining wall — launched in honor of KTR’s birthday. Local residents joined the drive and planted saplings.
With a massive pledge to plant and protect 10 crore (100 million) saplings over the next five years, the Green India Challenge — working for environmental conservation — began its 9th phase. To mark the 50th birthday of BRS Working President K. T. Rama Rao (KTR), the campaign has started a green campaign to plant 9.9 million saplings along the Godavari. At Bably in Dharmabad taluka, Nanded district, Maharashtra, 1,000 veturu saplings were planted on the Godavari banks to kick off the program. Participants included Green India Challenge founder and former MP Joginapalli Santosh Kumar, Igniting Minds founder Karunakar Reddy, Green India Challenge co-founder Raghavendra Yadav, the Youth for Godavari team, sarpanches of Bably and nearby villages, forest department staff, and women from self-help groups.
A retaining wall for the Godavari .From Basar to Trimbakeshwar, the plan is to plant veturu saplings along both banks to prevent riverbank erosion. A total of 9.9 million saplings will be planted and conserved along the river’s length. For this effort, 500,000 volunteers from students, NSS, NCC, and youth organizations across Maharashtra, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh are working. This phase prioritizes native riparian species that withstand summer heat in the Deccan region, such as Dendrocalamus strictus and Bambusa bambos. The green campaign will also continue in the Manjira and Pranahita river catchment areas. These riparian trees bind the soil on the riverbanks, functioning like natural “retaining walls” that prevent soil erosion during monsoons. These species also sequester carbon quickly. The planted saplings will be geotagged.
KTR’s birthday celebrated innovatively
The Green India Challenge is marking the BRS working president’s birthday in a novel way. For every completed year of KTR’s life, the Green India Challenge is planting 200,000 saplings; in total they are planting 9.9 million saplings. The plantation drive will continue across the Godavari catchment area through the coming year. The Green India Challenge aims to secure a prominent place among India’s river-based environmental conservation movements with this 9th edition.
If the river thrives, we all thrive
Inspired by the Haritha Haaram program launched by Telangana leader and former Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao (KCR), the Green India Challenge has grown into one of the largest environmental conservation movements. Launched in 2018 under the leadership of former MP Joginapalli Santosh Kumar, the movement began with a single tree and has now planted over 19.6 million saplings. It has brought 4.4 million people into the program. The target is to plant and conserve 100 million saplings by October 31, 2031. Speaking on the occasion, Green India Challenge founder Joginapalli Santosh Kumar said, “A river is not just a flow of water. It is akin to life-breath for human communities. It provides water for life, irrigation for farmers, and sustenance for all crops on earth. It hands down a rich cultural heritage to future generations. To mark KTR’s 50th birthday, we wanted to give a green gift that will outlast a lifetime. As part of that, we launched this Haritha Yagna of 9.9 million saplings along the Godavari’s banks. This is an investment for the future of the Godavari basin. If the river is well, we all are well. That is why we are doing our part to protect the river.”
