''Mara Mitra'' app of Isha Foundation launched to rejuvenate Cauvery river

Bengaluru: The Mara Mitra (Friend of Tree) App developed by Cauvery Calling, a movement started by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev of Isha Foundation to revive river Cauvery, was launched here on Thursday.

The App is the latest in a series of activities initiated by Cauvery Calling to intensify farmer outreach efforts on the ground to promote the economically lucrative and ecologically beneficial tree-based agriculture in the Cauvery basin districts of Karnataka, the Isha Foundation said in a statement.

The App was simultaneously launched in the nine districts in which Cauvery Calling volunteers are currently working along with the Forest Department officials and 890 Mara Mitras, the statement read.

According to the Foundation, Karnataka Chief Secretary P Ravi Kumar, who launched the App, said the Krushi Aranya Protsaha Yojane (KAPY) and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme are schemes by the Karnataka Government and Isha Foundation is creating demand generation.

“It is not right to say Isha Foundation was using government money to plant saplings. These are government schemes. Isha is creating awareness by educating farmers about the schemes,” Kumar was quoted as saying in the press release.

The Foundation said the Cauvery Calling operation will cover 1,785 Gram Panchayats in 57 Taluks of the nine Cauvery river basin districts which are home to 24 lakh farmers.

The campaign aims to plant 242 crore trees by farmers on their private farmlands in the river basin.

It stated that the plantation drive will increase the farmers” income between 3 and 8 times besides promoting a host of ecological benefits such as soil rejuvenation, repletion of groundwater table and reviving biodiversity.