The Wire Staff 
Raipur: In an effort to bring together stakeholders from various walks of life to a single platform to be able to deliberate on solutions to the environmental challenges faced by a nature-rich Chhattisgarh, the state’s forest department held a green summit this past week at Raipur for the first time.
The three day-event, held between October 3 and 5, besides holding a series of interactive discussions led by domain experts on how to deal with the challenges involved, also recognised the contribution of six persons from the central state towards conserving the state’s environment and nature. Chhattisgarh governor Ramen Deka gave away the awards on October 5.
Here is a quick peek at the winners of the state’s first green awards:
Amrika Netam leads a women’s collective in Chhattisgarh’s Kondagaon district which cultivates traditional paddy varieties. In the process, she preserves as many as 104 indigenous rice varieties and supplies its seeds to local farmers.
Sitaram Das comes from a small village in Chhattisgarh and dedicated his life to protecting crocodiles. His work continues even after losing a hand due to an attack by a crocodile. The credit for starting the Komi Sonar Crocodile Park in the state’s Janjgir Champa district goes to him.
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Ghuntu Singh has created a revolution of sorts in Chhattisgarh’s Jasper district by engaging residents of over fifteen villages to engage in bee-keeping. Today, hundreds cultivate honey bees to produce forest honey.
Baluram Verma is recognised for transforming the landscape of Bhilai by planting over ten thousand saplings and distributing over two lakh plants over a span of nearly four decades. His NGO, Paryavaran Mitra Mandal Samiti, also collects door-to-door garbage for better waste management.
Neha Bansod, a resident of Bhilai, gave up her government job to work for saving trees. She runs a private firm that uses innovative tree transplantation methods.
Budhari Tati is a resident of Chhattisgarh’s Dantewada district and has helped empower over 550 women in Bastar by imparting them education and aiding skill training to be financially self-reliant and get out of the morass of poverty in the region.