Five thousand schoolgirls from across the state lent a unique green touch to Saturday’s festival of Raksha Bandhan, which marks the bond of love between brother and sister. The girls chose large heritage trees as their elder brothers and tied outsized rakhis to them, the idea being to spread the ‘Save the Trees’ message.

The schoolgirls were members of Rashtriya Harit Sena, which has a membership of about 4 lakh students and 8,884 schools in the state. In Pune, this unique Raksha Bandhan was celebrated at four schools: Ahilya Devi in Shaniwar Peth, Hujurpaga on Laxmi Road, Lonkar Vidyalay in Mundhwa and Sadhana Vidyalay in Hadapsar.

“This is the first time the state has seen such a programme. When a sister ties a rakhi to her brothers, they vow to protect her throughout life. The premise behind tying rakhis to trees was to make other people more sensitive towards the trees and the depleting green cover. These girls prayed for the longevity of trees. The girls also beseeched the trees to save humankind from evils like air pollution, which is mounting by the day,” said Prakash Thosare, director of the Department of Social Forestry.

The green Raksha Bandhan took place at 100 places across the state. A variety of heritage trees including banyan, tamarind and peepal were selected.

Amruta Joglekar, coordinator of eco-clubs in HHCP (Hujurpaga) Highschool on Laxmi Road, said, “In our school, we have girls between standards VI and IX who are members of our eco-clubs including that of Rashtriya Harit Sena. The schoolgirls prepared giant rakhis using eco-friendly material and avoiding of thermocol and plastic. They later tied these to the trees and prayed for their long and healthy life. This is also a way to inculcate good things about nature into young minds.