NE NEWS SERVICE
MUMBAI, JUNE 13
Extending full support to the Save Soil Movement, Maharashtra became the fifth Indian state to sign an MoU with Isha Outreach to officially join the global movement – Save Soil. Maharashtra Environment Minister Aditya Thackeray and Sadhguru, Founder- Isha Foundation, exchanged MoUs in a star-studded event that saw an enthusiastic participation from over 10,000 people in Mumbai’s Jio Convention Center.
“Our planet is our shared asset & responsibility and I am honoured to share stage with Sadhguru and reiterate our commitment towards the great good of the environment by extending Maharashtra’s support to #SaveSoil initiative, spearheaded by @ishafoundation on a global stage,” said Maharashtra Environment Minister Aditya Thackeray.
Our planet is our shared asset & responsibility and I am honoured to share stage with @SadhguruJV and reiterate our commitment towards the great good of the environment by extending Maharashtra’s support to #SaveSoil initiative, spearheaded by @ishafoundation on a global stage. pic.twitter.com/wYRI8GgXI5
— Aaditya Thackeray (@AUThackeray) June 12, 2022
Earlier, ⇑ Sadhguru handed the Soil Policy Handbook to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray who pledged full support to the cause of Save Soil. The handbook offers practical, scientific solutions that governments can put into action to revitalize the soil in their region.
- At a Save Soil event in Mumbai, Maharashtra Environment Minister Aditya Thackeray and Sadhguru exchanged MoUs to take urgent steps to Save Soil
- Sadhguru met Maharashtra CM Shri Uddhav Thackeray and handed Soil Policy Handbook
- Juhi Chawla, Meet Brothers, Mouni Roy among the few stars who attended the mega Save Soil event
- Since Sadhguru’s arrival in India, the Governments of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have expressed their full support for the movement and to bringing about on-the-ground action.
Opening about his decision to go on a painstaking 100-day bike journey for soil, Sadhguru said, “…the only way was if I risk my life at least people will stand up and do something,” he said.
“Soil was a very unpopular subject just 3 months ago,” but since his journey, “2.8 billion have responded in the world,” Sadhguru said.
Aditya Thackeray expressed his concern for soil and said, “We have come to a critical point in our planet today and if we don’t do for this very generation…we might not even see the future generation.” Sharing his realization from his interaction with Sadhguru, he observed, “We are soil, that is where we come from and that is where we eventually go.”
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Speaking at the event, Bollywood actress and environmentalist Juhi Chawla reminisced her visit to Cauvery Calling farms and her witnessing agroforestry changing the fortunes of farmers.
Expressing her admiration for Sadhguru’s 100-day 30000 km journey through snow, cold, sandstorms, heat, and heavy traffic, she thanked him for the initiative and observed, “what you want is not for yourself or personal glory, it is for all of us…for all our children whom we love the most.”
Calling 15-18 inches of soil the “cream of the planet”, Sadhguru warned that in the last 40-50 years we have lost 52% of the topsoil when “with the present level of the human footprint if you want to create one inch of soil, it will take 13,000 years.”
While crediting the green revolution and its methods which saved millions from the horrors of famines in the country, Sadhguru stressed that “our agricultural policies have to change.” Explaining that “there is no one person, one force or one organization wanting to destroy this planet” and that “every one of us knowingly, unknowingly, all of us partners in this destruction” Sadhguru called upon everyone to “become partners in the solution.”
The star-studded event saw the presence of celebs Mouni Roy, Divyanka Tripathi, Rithvik Dhanjani, among others. Sadhguru also joined the Meet Brothers and Khushboo Grewal to lend his voice to the now popular Save Soil song ‘Bandeya’. Soca King Machel Montano mesmerized the audience through his popular Save Soil tracks.
Now an intrinsic part of all Save Soil public events, Radhe Jaggi, a Bharatanatyam dancer along with Isha Samskriti weaved a combination of classical dance and Kalaripayattu to draw home the connection between humans and soil.
In India, nearly 30% of fertile soils in the country have already become barren and are incapable of yield. The primary objective of the Save Soil Movement is to urge all nations of the world to mandate a minimum of 3-6% organic content in agricultural soils through urgent policy reforms. Without this minimum organic content, soil scientists have warned of the imminent death of soil, a phenomenon termed ‘soil extinction.’
At a Save Soil event in New Delhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi joined Sadhguru in expressing his whole-hearted recognition of the critical need for and value of the movement. Since Sadhguru’s arrival in India, the Governments of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh have expressed their full support for the movement and to bringing about on-the-ground action.
Since the start of his lone motorcycle journey which began on March 21, 2022 and covered Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East, Sadhguru reached the Western port city of Jamnagar, Gujarat on May 29. During the Indian leg of the journey across 9 Indian states, he has passed through Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana and New Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh.
The movement, till date, has touched billions while 74 countries have agreed to act to save their nations’ soils. To a topic undeniably absent in mass awareness, since the start of Sadhguru’s journey across 27 nations, over 2.8 billion people have spoken about soil. Over 15 lakh children in India have written to the Prime Minister, requesting him to act to save the nation’s soil and their collective future.
