Meet Jammu’s green warrior who has planted more than 60k trees

Srinagar: She is a mother, wife, politician, and green crusader, all rolled into one.

When people begin the day with a walk or go about their daily routines, Sonia Verma looks for barren patches so that she can plant trees.

Hailing from Jammu’s Akhnoor area, Sonia has been planting trees for the last three years. So far she has planted more than 60,000 trees in and around her hometown. She made this decision to restore the rapidly disappearing green cover in Jammu owing to increasing constructions and road developments.

“Due to the growing human activities, the trees and greenery are slowly disappearing from Jammu. It is turning into a concrete jungle. This motivated me to start planting and distributing trees to make public places greener,” she said.

Using her resources and money, Sonia has transformed the area with all kinds of trees–Indian Gooseberry (Amla), Tecoma stans (Yellow Bells), Jamun, Crepe Jasmine or Chandni flower plant, Arjun, Gulmohar tree (Royal poinciana) in campuses of various educational institutions, on riverbanks, public parks, and myriad other places. She also takes care of them till they attain a standard height.

“I have planted trees in areas like Akhnoor Middle School, Panyadi, Gurha Brahmana East, Jourian, Chowki Churo, Khour, various arid villages, and Gram Panchayats, etc. Moreover, I aim to grow those trees and plants which require less water,” the green warrior said.

Sonia believes that planting trees, particularly on educational campuses is also a great way to create awareness of the importance of biodiversity and a clean environment in the younger generation.

“Biodiversity is a term that represents the total varieties of all life on earth. The more biodiversity, the more secure all life on earth is, including us. Also, these plantations can help the children and young students to appreciate nature and how it gives them access to healthy and natural fruits, protection from the searing sun, and adds to the overall beauty of the place,” she added.

Deeply committed to her mission, Sonia plans to expand the plantation drive in other parts of Jammu. Fighting the environmental blues, the woman with a green thumb has many lessons to teach from her little corner of the world. We just need to learn.