Police officer gives out saplings with online food orders

Lucknow, June 6 In a new initiative to spread awareness about the need for planting more trees, a UP police official went a step ahead of merely planting a sapling himself.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (ADCP) Chiranjeevi Nath Singh, on Saturday which marked the World Environment Day, tied up with delivery boys from Zomato and Swiggy and also local food outlets and delivered free saplings along with their food order booked online.

Those, who received the saplings with their food order, were delighted at this unusual gift.

Rajiv Khanna, one of the recipients, said, "I ordered a pizza and was surprised when I got a sapling as a gift. It was a great initiative and I thank the police officer."

Apart from this, Sinha also gave out saplings to those persons who were seen wearing masks to help fight the deadly Corona infection.

"Plants are the best source of oxygen, but since in this corona partial lockdown no one is coming out from home to purchase saplings to commemorate world environment Day, I thought it would be a good idea to distribute sapling through the food delivery boys. We distributed around 500 saplings," he told .

Besides, Sinha said that the thought behind the idea was that most youngsters use online food delivery platforms, hence, it was the best medium to distribute the saplings, and also educate and inculcate in youngsters the importance of environment conservation.

"Today's generation has lost touch with the environment and it is necessary to bring them closer to it. I have chosen saplings of ornamental plants and also croton and some flowers. All these saplings are very easy to plant at home and do not require much space and care like special manure or any pesticides but only water. Doing this will also give a sense of responsibility to those who plant them," said Sinha.

Incidentally, Chiranjeev Nath Sinha, has recently been conferred the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) India Award in appreciation of his efforts to feed animals during the lockdowns.

Chiranjeev Nath Sinha and his police team have been distributing bananas and chickpeas to stray monkeys and cows in Lucknow.

The police team has fed the stray animals in Khurram Nagar Kukarel area of Lucknow. Food was also fed to stray animals and monkeys in the lockdown last year by the ADCP.

"There is a lot of problem in getting food for animals when the lockdown is imposed. Community animals can starve and suffer in a lockdown because they depend on our leftover foods for survival," he said.

Sinha, in appreciation of his work, has also been named the brand ambassador of Lucknow Zoo - the first police officer to get the honour.