Chandigarh: Amid the prevailing heatwave in North India, Chandigarh Police Constable Devendra Sura has emerged as the green ambassador with his awareness work towards environmental conservation for the last decade earning him the sobriquet of 'Tree Man'.
Chandigarh Police Constable Devendra Sura has been making people aware about nature conservation since 2014. In his magnanimous work for the cause, Sura spends his entire salary on plantation and for this love of nature, he has also taken loans worth lakhs of rupees.
Planted Public Nursery in Sonipat: Devendra Sura, a resident of Sonipat district of Haryana, has set up a nursery in Sonipat itself which has been named 'Janta Nursery'. Sura said that he has also taken a loan of several lakh rupees from the bank to set up the nursery. He said that he lives a normal simple life, but he loves nature so much that he plants thousands of trees every year. In more than a decade, he has planted more than two and a quarter lakh trees at various places, he said.
Bank Loans for Environmental Cause: Constable Devendra Sura said that he has taken a loan of Rs 35 lakh from various banks six times so far for plantation. He said that he spends his salary on plantation campaigns while his father, who is retired from the army, manages his household expenses. Sura said that he is able to arrange two meals a day for his normal life and he feels very happy about his cause.
Support From IAS and IPS Officers: Constable Devendra Sura said that he had to face various challenges during the plantation campaign, but there are many IAS and IPS officers including DGP and SSP of Chandigarh Police, with whose support he has been successful in taking the plantation campaign forward. He also mentioned the names of many more such officers.
District Level Teams: Constable Devendra Sura said that whenever he gets time, he travels to various districts of Haryana like Sonipat, Rohtak, Mahendragarh, Karnal and other places. Everywhere, he starts a plantation campaign with the help of many youth who love nature. Earlier, after taking approval from the Panchayat and other government agencies, he plants trees collectively on Panchayat land or other vacant government land. He said that now youth from different districts themselves call him for plantation.
Recognition From Union Minister: Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari has honored Constable Devendra Sura in the year 2023 at IIT, Delhi for his commendable work in the field of environment and nature conservation. Currently, Constable Devendra is posted in the VIP security of Chandigarh Police. Sura lives in Sector-3 police station and travels to all places from there only by bicycle as part of nature conservation. He said that he has two bicycles, one of which is in Chandigarh and the other in Sonipat. If he has to go to a faraway place, he travels by public means like train and bus, he said.
