How “Seed Bombing” Done By School Children In Bihar

School children of Bihar are Seed Bombing with the objective to increase the fast depleting green cover which has resulted in alarming pollution levels and poor quality of air in the state. The state was left with only 9 percent of green cover after the Jharkhand was carved out of it in November 2000.

Seed Bombing usually means implies aerial reforestration, is a technique meant to introduced by vegetation but throwing or dropping the seed balls on barren land. Under the guidance of Tarumitra , a student movement to promote the ecological sensitivity, school children learnt how to make seed bombs or balls.

In this type of technique, seeds are filled inside ball of fertile soil. Once these balls dry up, they are thrown in places with less vegetation. In the campaign, the school children have been preparing and throwing the seeds bombs at various places across the state over the last one year.

They have been throwing the seed bomb mostly during the rainy season to ensure that they germinate properly and absorb the moisture.

In the Interview with Down to Earth, the director of Tarumitra director Robert Athickal “Pollution levels have reached an alarming level here. We are taking a chance to bring it under control through this unique campaign,”

According to the Robert, a person requires at least 16 big trees to have adequate supply of oxygen.

So far, the children have seed - bombed in the areas like Patna Buxar, Patna- Gaya and Patna -Deoghar railway tracks.

Armed with bags full of seed bombs, various teams of school children have been riding train and throwing the seed balls through the train window where there are barren areas.

Children also throw the seed bombs along with the banks of the various rivers like Ganga and Gandak to create a green wall.

The main preference for making seed balls, NGO spoken person says that the seeds are from the coral tree. They have also used seeds of the banyan, jamun etc. for making the seeds bombs .

According to their report they have dropped seeds bombs more than 20, 000 across Bihar, and are storing much more seeds bombs to do the same during the next raining season. Athickel says that “More than two million people live in Patna but the city has little or no space for plantation, this is matter of concern for all of us”

By: Lakshender S Angras

Content :  https://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/environment/how-schoolchildren-are-seed-bombing-bihar-63318