Assam villagers plant about 300,00 saplings for world record
15 Jul 2008, 1515 Hrs

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Chautaki (Assam) July 15 (ANI): In an attempt to create a world record and also contribute to the environment, villagers in Assam planted 284,000 saplings in a single day here recently.

Around 300 people including government officials, NGO workers and residents of Chautaki Village in Assam's Bongaigaon district got together to create record by planting 284,000 saplings in a single day.

Villagers could be seen toiling away, as they planted saplings of various plants like guava, teak, neem, in an area spread over 31.5 hectares of land.

The plantation drive was carried out under ENREGA project (Govt Project) at a cost of rupees 3.4 million The Grand project was made successful with the help of Government officials, NGOs and Villagers.

An independent observer from World Wildlife Fund (WWF) was called into oversee the entire activity.

The attempt was started on the afternoon of July 11 and continued till next day, during which a record 284, 000 saplings were planted by the villagers.

"I have been invited as an independent observer to this whole world attempt of Guinness Book Of World Record of plantation of around 300, 000 saplings within 24 hours in this Chautaki area. And I'm very happy to see that the whole exercise was done meticulously according to the guidelines set by the World Heritage Committee," said Surajeet Baruah, observer and official from WWF.

Villagers also wanted to preserve environment by planting saplings.

The previous world record for planting saplings was from Tamil Nadu's Nagapattinam district, when 254, 000 saplings were planted in a day. By Peter Alex Todd (ANI)