GURUGRAM: A group of residents, corporate employees and volunteers came together on Sunday to encourage people to shun crackers and plant trees instead this Diwali. Under the banner of Socio-Motto, a social organisation working for environment protection, they approached people at busy marketplaces in the city, including Galleria Market, Vyapar Kendra of Sushant Lok-I, South City II market and City Centre Mall in Malibu Towne to offer saplings to residents in return of a pledge that they would burst no crackers this Diwali.The three-day campaign, according to organisers, will end a day before Diwali. “On Sunday we offered a few hundred plants and flower saplings to the commuters,” said Socio-Motto president Jagdish Kukreja. “We offered both normal plants that would grow into trees and saplings of small flowering plants for gardens. We wanted to bring home the message that this Diwali we must plant and nurture a sapling instead of bursting crackers. It is a noble effort given the reality of our time, as climate change and increasing pollution is going to make lives miserable across the world. The only thing which is likely to have definite results is planting a tree, which is easier than anything else we have at our disposal right now.”Socio-Motto members said around 35-40 people from all walks of life volunteered for the campaign, which was supported by EDP Services, a city-based recruitment firm.

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