Kishor Rithe

We don’t want to learn a real message from the great people of this country but would only show respect by “environment destructive ways” even sometimes against the very ideology of these great people. One such act has been condemned by a reputed green NGO Satpuda Foundation.

Saint Tukdoji Maharaj from Mozari in Amravati district (Prez’s district) was a great person who played an important role in “freedom struggle” by his speeches and patriotic songs. He wrote a Gram-geeta, a geeta on sustainable living and village development, the implementation of which actually influenced Mahatma Gandhi, Vinoba Bhave and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru those days.

“Gram-geeta” actually gave this nation a “mantra” of sustainable development and specially how we can protect the biodiversity (including lakes, rivers, birds, wildlife) environment at village level. So today in the “climate Change Crisis” the entire world needs to take lessons from Gramgeeta how every Indian should reduce the carbon footprint by strengthening “village economy and ecology”.

On 7th January Thursday President of India and Chief Minister of Maharashtra visited the Ashram at Mozari to observe the birth anniversary grand function of late Tukdoji Maharaj. Yesterday on Saturday it is learnt that the Government of Maharashtra had sent two Helicopters to do rehearsal to shower flowers on his “Samadhi sthal” on Sunday.

This way of showing respect by showering flowers from Helicopters becomes wrong in todays world of climate change crisis, says Satpuda Foundation. Though it has been one of the usual practice earlier in the country, but now as we have identified “aviation Turbine Fuel” causing more CO2 emission we need to stop such practices in future at least for celebrations or the act of showing “respect”.

India has internationally announced its position to bring down the carbon intensity by 20-25% by 2020. So we Indians now need to seriously think to avoid such wrong ways of celebrations and showing respects. We need to change our modern practices like this.

Satpuda Foundation also has provided rough estimates of Carbon emission by this act.
Aviation Turbine Fuel (ATF) is in the form of kerosene and produces roughly about 2.158 kg of CO2 emissions per liter consumed. Mumbai to (Mozari) Amravati air distance is roughly 800 km (one way) which roughly requires 1100 liters for return flight of any Helicopter. This produces and emits 2373 kg of CO2 in the atmosphere.

Yesterday on 9th January two helicopters did the rehearsal and today the helicopters are expected to do the actual showering of flowers. So its roughly 9492 kg of CO2 emission. Satpuda Foundation has urged the state Government to stop such practices in the context of Climate Change crisis. SF will shortly write to civil aviation ministry, Kishor Rithe, President of SF informed through a press note.