More than 1 crore saplings to be distributed under Cauvery Calling by November

Coimbatore-based Isha Foundation is planning to distribute over 1.11 crore saplings this year in Karnataka under its ambitious ‘Cauvery Calling’ campaign.

“The programme witnessed a slight setback due to the Covid-19 pandemic,” Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, who heads Isha Foundation, told media persons during a virtual interaction.

“Despite the constraints, our volunteers distributed 50 lakh saplings in Karnataka in the last couple of months. They also distributed 11 lakh saplings in Tamil Nadu." He said the volunteers have kept 1.11 crore saplings ready for distribution by November. “The Karnataka forest department has given us 72 lakh saplings. We are now reaching out to volunteers to transport these saplings. We are looking for transport service providers to help us,” he said.

Sadhguru expressed fears that there could be a shortage of saplings next year. “We will focus on areas where farmers’ enthusiasm is more,” he said.

Commenting on the petition filed before the High Court of Karnataka Sadhguru said, "The petition was not rooted in facts. We are neither using government land to plant saplings, neither have we raised funds from farmers. There is no factual content for accusations."

Sadhguru said the foundation has received funds for about five crore saplings from 123 countries, with Rs 42 being the price tag on each sapling. An expert board meets once in six months to audit all contributions as per norms.

Isha launched the Cauvery Calling campaign to maintain sufficient green cover along the catchment areas of the Cauvery river in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.