Bhaiyya Ram Yadav, a 55-year-old farmer in Bharatpur of Chitrakoot district in Bundelkhand region, has created a forest by planting saplings on 50 hectares of barren land in his village.
"In 2001, my wife passed away during child birth and later my son died at the age of seven due to lack of medical treatment. I left my home due to depression and started roaming around in Chitrakoot," he said.
While roaming around, he read a slogan put up by the forest department which said, "One tree is equal to 100 sons".
The slogan changed his mind and he returned home. Bhaiyya Ram built a hut outside his village and started planting trees. Initially, people called him crazy but after sometime the villagers started supporting his cause.
Bhaiyya Ram said that initially he planted 40 saplings and felt at peace. Later he kept adding to this number. The number reached up to 40,000 saplings. He said that God has taken one son from him, but now he is the father of thousands of plants.
Through his efforts, about 50 hectares of Bharatpur land has become green. He has turned the unused land into a forest with a diversified range of useful plants.
Bhaiyya Ram now wants to plant over 40 lakh trees. The only thing he wants is a hand pump in order to accomplish the big target.
The people of Chitrakoot, who earlier called him 'crazy', now call him an inspiration for the region.
( With inputs from IANS )