‘Trees are real friends’: Bhubaneswar youths and social activists celebrate ‘Friendship Day’ by tying friendship bands to trees

With an aim to increase green cover and sensitize people about the utility of plants and plantations, several youths and social activists in Bhubaneswar celebrated Friendship Day in a unique way by tying friendship bands to trees.

As per the activists, trees are the real friends of human beings and they are observing the special day in a special manner to make people understand that nature is the best friend of human beings and they have to plant and grow trees to save the environment.

“I was really disturbed when lakhs of trees were uprooted in Odisha during the 1999 Super Cyclone. Since that day, I have been planting trees and celebrating Friendship Day in this unique fashion by tying friendship bands to trees. Trees are vibrant and they help us in various ways in a selfless manner,” said a social activist.

“With the population growing, trees are being cut to build houses and roads. It has been impacting our environment in a very bad way. We need to plant more and more trees and nurture them to keep our environment healthy. A tree is such a friend that it helps human beings without any selfish motive. By tying friendship bands to trees, we want to send out a message to society that all should take care of trees,” said another social activist.