Shivraj Plants Tree at Bhopal Smart City Park, Invites Citizens
Synopsis
Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan continued his daily tree-planting pledge at Bhopal's Smart City Park on 6 November 2026, inviting citizens to register as 'Vriksh Mitra' via a missed call or his website under the #OnePlantADay campaign.
Key Takeaways
Shivraj Singh Chouhan planted a tree at Bhopal's Smart City Park on 6 November 2026 as part of his #OnePlantADay daily commitment.
Citizens can join the drive by giving a missed call to 8929629475 and become a 'Vriksh Mitra' (Tree Friend).
An online enrollment link is available at shivrajsinghchouhan.co.in for those who want to formally participate.
The campaign echoes India's Van Mahotsav tradition of mass tree-planting, which dates back to 1950 .
Chouhan is a former four-term Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh with a long record of leading state-level afforestation drives.
One sapling at a time, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is making a daily ritual of his environmental commitment — planting a tree at Bhopal's Smart City Park on Friday, 6 November 2026 as part of his ongoing #OnePlantADay campaign and calling on every Indian to join him.
Posting on X, the minister wrote: 'प्रतिदिन पौधरोपण के संकल्प के क्रम में आज भोपाल स्थित स्मार्ट सिटी पार्क में पौधा रोपा' — 'In keeping with my resolve to plant a tree every day, today I planted one at Smart City Park in Bhopal.' He called on citizens to express their gratitude to the earth and to nature by planting together.
The 'Vriksh Mitra' call-to-action
Chouhan has opened a direct, low-barrier entry point for ordinary citizens: a missed call to 8929629475 registers the caller as a 'Vriksh Mitra' — a 'Tree Friend' — while a dedicated link at shivrajsinghchouhan.co.in allows people to formally enroll in the planting drive. The twin mechanism — a smartphone link plus a simple missed call — is designed to rope in both urban and rural participants, cutting across the digital divide.
Chouhan's green track record and India's afforestation push
Bhopal, the Madhya Pradesh capital where today's sapling was planted, has been Chouhan's political home for decades. During his four terms as Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, large-scale tree-planting drives became a signature feature of state governance, often coinciding with Van Mahotsav — India's annual afforestation festival launched in 1950 — which mobilises mass plantation events every monsoon season across the country.
The tradition of ministers publicly planting trees carries institutional weight in India, anchoring individual political leadership to a broader national goal of expanding green cover. With climate pressures intensifying and urban heat islands spreading, grassroots campaigns that convert passive well-wishers into active planters are increasingly seen as a meaningful supplement to state-led forestry programmes.
Whether the Vriksh Mitra network grows into a verifiable, sustained movement will depend on the public response to Chouhan's daily pledge — but the architecture is live, the ask is simple, and the minister is visibly leading by example, one sapling a day.
Point of View
High-visibility personal branding exercise that dovetails neatly with the BJP's broader environmental messaging ahead of ongoing climate commitments. By converting the act of tree-planting into a daily public ritual complete with a missed-call opt-in, he builds a grassroots constituency around an apolitical cause — a playbook he refined over four terms as Madhya Pradesh's chief minister. The 'Vriksh Mitra' framing also gives participants a sense of civic identity, potentially sustaining momentum beyond a single seasonal event. Whether that translates into measurable green cover gains, however, will require independent tracking of sapling survival rates — the perennial weak link in India's high-profile plantation drives.
NationPress
6 Nov 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Shivraj Singh Chouhan's OnePlantADay campaign?
It is a personal environmental initiative by Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in which he commits to planting at least one tree every day and invites citizens to do the same under the hashtag #OnePlantADay.
How can I become a Vriksh Mitra under Shivraj Chouhan's tree-planting drive?
You can register as a 'Vriksh Mitra' (Tree Friend) by giving a missed call to 8929629475 or by clicking the enrollment link on Shivraj Singh Chouhan's official website at shivrajsinghchouhan.co.in.
Where did Shivraj Singh Chouhan plant a tree on 6 November 2026?
He planted a tree at the Smart City Park in Bhopal , the capital of Madhya Pradesh, on 6 November 2026.
What is Van Mahotsav and how does it relate to this campaign?
Van Mahotsav is India's annual tree-planting festival, initiated in 1950 , which promotes nationwide afforestation through public events every monsoon season. Chouhan's daily tree-planting drive draws on the same tradition of encouraging mass citizen participation in increasing green cover.
What is Shivraj Singh Chouhan's current role in the central government?
Shivraj Singh Chouhan is currently the Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare and Rural Development in the Government of India, and a senior BJP leader. He previously served as Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh for four terms.
