By Matters India Reporter
Berhampur, July 15, 2022: The diocese of Berhampur in the eastern Indian state of Odisha has resolved to take environmental issues seriously.
Anugraha Peetho (seat of blessings), its laity center in Mohana, used the celebration of Vana Mahotsav (forest festival) to announce several stops to preserve environment.
As many as 150 people from various parishes of Mohana deanery flocked to the laity center to observe the day.
Besides planting tree saplings in its campus, the center will stop using plastic under the policy of “refuse, reduce and re-use.”
The center will not use banners and flex boards but adopt carry bags made of cloth, jute, or threads.
They will strive to reduce wastage of food and avoid serving food on disposable plates and cups. They will not use plastic bottles for water.
People will use cloth flags, natural materials such as leaves and flowers for decoration, design banners, and decorative materials in modules so that they can be reused.
The center will encourage the use of bus and share autorickshaw, and procure materials locally to avoid fuel consumption.
They will prefer rooms with good ventilation instead of air-conditioning, ensuring that the public address system does not disturb public life.
Another proposal is to make use of daylight, promote solar energy, and plant more saplings throughout the year.
Inspiration came from the talk of Sacred Hearts Sister Sujata Jena, one of the resource persons, who highlighted various environmental issues.
“As part of our spiritual conversation, we must decide to change ourselves and our surroundings with concrete steps and contribute to the well-being of the biodiversity and thus build our ‘common home’,” she said.
Guest of honor Santosh Kumar Bishnoi, forest guard of Mohana Beat, said every step taken by individuals will make a clean and green environment.
He urged the people to plant more fruit-bearing trees for a good environment and livelihood income.
He reminded the gathering that Vana Mahotsav is an annual one-week tree-planting festival in India that is celebrated in the first week of July.
Forest Range Officer Kalpana Naik, the chief guest, requested people to control shifting cultivation and prevent forest fire in tribal areas.
“We should plant more and more indigenous and fruit-bearing plants like tamarind, jackfruit, and gooseberry for our livelihood and to conserve wildlife,” she said.
Nayak urged people to stop using single-use plastics as they are non-biodegradable and harmful to the environment.
Father Martyn Porichha, the organizer of the event and the coordinator of the laity center, recalled Pope Francis’ bronze plaque gift to Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the message “the desert will become a garden.”
The priest said Berhampur diocese is preparing for its golden jubilee celebration in 2024. As part of the preparation, every year the diocese takes on a theme. The theme for this year is environment.
Father Porichha said they have decided to observe the environment day in July as the Church celebrates Laudato Si Day on the first Sunday of July. The diocese will have another day to mark the day.
The priest had procured as many as 200 saplings from the forest department as well as from other places to plant around the laity center. They are of medicinal, show tree and fruit bearing plants like Christmas tree, Evergreen tree, Coconut tree, Tent Bamboo, Indian beech, Patoli, Yellow Coconut, Custard apple, Tamarind, Blackberry, Guava, Jackfruit were acquired for the day.