IIT-B alumni name trees after favourite profs in reforestation project

Mumbai: Vatele village near Pune witnessed an unusual initiative recently: reforestation combined with a charming tribute by students to their teachers. Held by IIT Bombay, the event saw a group of professors, alumni and current students come together to plant trees and name them after their favourite professors from the institute.

“The core concept of this initiative, which is called the Alumni Grove Project, involves planting a tree in the grove in the name of every faculty member of IIT Bombay right from the institute’s inception,” said Shirish Deodhar, an alumnus from the class of 1980 who is spearheading the project. “The inspiration for the project emerged during a visit to the 14 Trees Project site in Vetale village.”

The 14 Trees Project was conceptualised by Pravin Bhagwat, an alumnus of IIT Kanpur, who came up with the idea of planting trees as a tribute to teachers. Bhagwat and his team are working to restore 200 acres of degraded land through the planting of native trees. Their efforts have had a positive impact on the entire ecosystem in the surrounding areas. Bhagwat’s initiative was launched on the occasion of IIT-Kanpur’s diamond jubilee.

“14 Trees is a great initiative by Bhagwat and his team, which is helping locals with livelihood, society to get green cover and is an emotive experience for IITians,” said Prof Deepak Phatak, who planted a tree in memory of all the professors who served and are currently serving at IIT-B. “The IIT Bombay Alumni Grove Project represents a meaningful collaboration with a noble purpose, emphasising the importance of environmental stewardship and the enduring legacy of education.”

Dakshana Foundation, an NGO that supports bright and underprivileged students primarily from rural India in preparing for IIT and medical entrance exams, generously offered their land adjacent to the 14 Trees site to the IIT-B Faculty Grove. The project was inaugurated in the presence of eminent IIT academics including Deepak Phatak, Ravi Gudi and Kameswari Chebrolu from IIT-B and Manish Jain, Head of the Centre of Creative Learning, IIT Gandhinagar.

Deodhar said that around 150 names of mostly existing faculty members were available with the 14 Trees Foundation. “The names of other existing and retired faculty are still being collected,” he said. “We hope that the final count is closer to 1,000.”

Deodhar names some of the professors who played an important role in his IIT Bombay days (1975-1980). “They are Prof S D Agashe, Prof K R Shankar, Prof K C Mukherjee, Prof V V Athani, Prof Y S Apte and Prof V P Sundarsingh,” he said.

14 Trees Foundation

Pravin Bhagwat (54), who graduated from IIT Kanpur in 1990, worked for IBM as a researcher. He returned to India and joined as a faculty member at IIT-K but left subsequently to set up a tech company along with IIT-B alumnus Kiran Deshpande. After 15 years, he decided to work for the environment and founded the 14 Trees Foundation along with Deshpande and another IIT-B alumnus Ajay Phatak.

“To address environmental issues, we decided to work on three levels: replanting trees, attaching emotions to this by tributing teachers, and providing livelihood to locals,” said Bhagwat. Currently, 100 tribals are employed on daily wages and have been provided with business opportunities through a plant nursery.

Bhagwat said that he and his team were restoring native green cover on ecologically degraded patches of barren hills. “Instead of using artificial resources, we are digging ponds to store rainwater and trenches to recharge ground water,” he said.

The name of Bhagwat’s foundation is based on the scientific fact that 14 trees can absorb every bit of carbon-dioxide a person breathes out over his or her lifetime. “I appeal to every individual to plant at least 14 trees in their lifetime,” he said.