Chanchal eco-club ranks first in district

Statesman News Service

MALDA, 1 MARCH: The eco club of Chanchal Siddeshwari Institution, a higher secondary school in Chanchal sub division, ranked first based on the evaluation report of its projects and studies in 2008-09 among more than the selected 150 eco-clubs in the district school.

The district level monitoring committee has published the results of eco-clubs’ performance last week. Ranking first the eco-club of Chanchal Siddeshwari Institution will represent in the state level competition.

It may be noted that Central government’s forest and environment departments and state’s environment department jointly have been organising the project ~ Jatiya Sabuj Bahini ~in the interest of science and environment.

Though the Siddeshwari Institution had ranked first in 2006-07 and represented state level competition but it has not been able to compete in the national-level competition till date.

According to the in charge of the eco-club, Dr Kamal Krishna Das, who is also a teacher of Siddeshwari Institution; the students of this school were working in the field of environment to save plankton level of various ponds in Chanchal area with a view to save pisciculture.

According to their studies, rate of plankton-level is gradually decreasing due to several causes of pollution in environment which has already affected fishery adversely.

Besides, students of Siddeshwari Institution has been working to destroy poisonous Parthenium Hystrophorous plant, harmful to respiratory system of humans, by planting Kal-kasunda (scientifically known as cassia-tora) and two other species of Ganda plants ( Tagetes Palula and Tegetes Erecta).

“After a thorough study, we have concluded that plankton level should be increased to save pisciculture here. In future pisciculture would be affected badly”, Dr Kamal Krishna Das said.

“After planting Kal-kasunda and Ganda, parthenium plantation has been destructed at least 32 percent of its area automatically. Students of this club have been campaigning among the local residents urging them to plant these saplings to save people from asthma”, Dr Das claimed.

Students used to work on Sunday regularly and produce thousands of those friendly saplings to destroy pethenium.