Republic Day 2024 fell on a crisp January morning in Lucknow. By 7 AM, 200 volunteers had gathered at the designated site — a stretch of median strip along the Gomti Nagar bypass that had been barren for years. By 11 AM, 500 saplings had been planted, watered, and tagged.
The Background
This drive was our eighth tree plantation event, but our largest single-day effort to date. We partnered with the Lucknow Municipal Corporation, which provided the saplings (a mix of neem, peepal, and gulmohar), and with three corporate CSR partners who funded the planting tools, water, and volunteer refreshments.
How It Worked
Volunteers were divided into teams of 10, each assigned a 50-metre stretch of the median. Each team had a team leader — mostly return volunteers from previous drives — who managed the digging, planting, and staking process. We used a GPS-tagged QR code system for the first time this year: each tree got a metal tag with a QR code that links to its species details and planting date.
- 500 saplings planted in under 4 hours
- Species mix: 40% neem, 35% peepal, 25% gulmohar
- All trees GPS-tagged and registered in our online tracker
- Follow-up watering scheduled for 30, 60, and 90 days
Six Months On
As of July 2024, 89% of the saplings have survived. The neem trees in particular have shown strong growth, with several already reaching 3–4 feet. The median strip is noticeably greener, and local residents have told us they've started watering the trees on their own during their morning walks.
We plan to plant another 1,000 trees before the monsoon this year. Support the drive.