Shivraj plants sapling at Bhopal Smart City Park, urges 'Vriksh Mitra' drive
Synopsis
Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan joined environment enthusiasts at Bhopal's Smart City Park on 27 September to plant a sapling under his daily #OnePlantADay resolve, urging citizens to become 'Vriksh Mitra' via a missed-call campaign.
Key Takeaways
Shivraj Singh Chouhan planted a sapling at Smart City Park, Bhopal on 27 September 2026 as part of a daily tree-planting pledge.
The campaign runs under the hashtag #OnePlantADay and invites public participation through his personal website.
Citizens can become a Vriksh Mitra ('Friend of Trees') by giving a missed call to 8929629475 .
India's afforestation tradition dates to the Van Mahotsav festival, launched in 1950 to promote public tree-planting.
The missed-call mechanism mirrors mass-mobilisation tactics used widely in Indian civic and welfare campaigns.
One sapling at a time, Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is turning a personal pledge into a public movement — joining environment enthusiasts at Bhopal's Smart City Park on Sunday, 27 September 2026 to plant a tree as part of his daily afforestation resolve.
Posting on X under the hashtag #OnePlantADay, Chouhan wrote: 'In the series of my daily tree-planting resolve, today I planted a sapling with environment lovers at Smart City Park in Bhopal. Trees are very necessary for making our earth green and for human life. You must also plant a tree.' He invited citizens to join the campaign by visiting his website or giving a missed call to 8929629475 to become a Vriksh Mitra ('Friend of Trees').
A daily pledge, made public
The campaign frames tree-planting not as a one-off event but as a daily discipline — a subtle but deliberate shift in how political leaders engage with environmental messaging. Rather than a ribbon-cutting at a forest department drive, this is a recurring, personalised act designed to carry social-media momentum across weeks and months. The missed-call mechanism lowers the participation barrier to near zero, borrowing a technique that has proven effective in India's mass-mobilisation playbook for everything from voter registration to welfare scheme sign-ups.
Where this fits in India's greening story
India's afforestation tradition stretches back to 1950, when Van Mahotsav — the annual 'Festival of Trees' — was launched to galvanise public participation in planting drives. Decades later, the challenge is less awareness and more consistent follow-through: saplings planted at high-profile events frequently go unwatered and unmonitored. Campaigns that build personal accountability — a daily promise, a community of named 'tree friends' — are increasingly seen as a way to bridge that gap. Bhopal, as Madhya Pradesh's capital and a city where Chouhan served as Chief Minister across four terms, gives the gesture an added layer of homecoming symbolism.
Whether the Vriksh Mitra network translates missed calls into measurable canopy cover is the real question. The numbers that matter most here are not podium counts but survival rates — how many of these saplings are still standing in two monsoon seasons.
Point of View
A tool with obvious downstream political utility. For the BJP, it also provides a feel-good, non-divisive narrative thread at a moment when agrarian and rural-development portfolios demand constant public signalling. The harder metric — whether symbolic planting actually lifts India's tree-cover numbers — remains firmly outside the frame of this campaign.
NationPress
27 Sept 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Vriksh Mitra campaign by Shivraj Singh Chouhan?
'Vriksh Mitra' ('Friend of Trees') is a citizen tree-planting initiative promoted by Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. People can join by giving a missed call to 8929629475 or visiting his campaign website, pledging to plant and care for a sapling.
Where did Shivraj Singh Chouhan plant a tree on 27 September 2026?
He planted a sapling at the Smart City Park in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh, alongside environment enthusiasts, as part of his daily #OnePlantADay resolve.
What is the #OnePlantADay initiative?
#OnePlantADay is a personal commitment by Union Agriculture Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan to plant a tree every day and encourage citizens across India to do the same, turning individual action into a broader afforestation movement.
How can I join Shivraj Chouhan's tree-planting campaign?
You can join by giving a missed call to 8929629475 to become a 'Vriksh Mitra', or by clicking the link on his campaign website to register your participation.
What is Van Mahotsav and how does it relate to this campaign?
Van Mahotsav is India's annual tree-planting festival, initiated in 1950 to promote afforestation and environmental awareness. Chouhan's #OnePlantADay drive draws on the same civic tradition, extending it into a year-round personal and public commitment.
