Kranti Van: An Unique Homage to Martyrs

Sampatrao Pawar (77), a farmer of village Balwadi, District Sangli, Maharashtra conceiving an idea of a grove where every tree could be named for a freedom fighter/Martyr and subsequent, failure to persuade the Administer to let him use the barren land, cleared his own four-acre sugarcane tract and started planting trees in 1998. Despite the resistance of family members except a son, who also died during this commendable adventure, Pawar ultimetaly planted grown 700 trees, each naming after a separate Martyr like Mangal Pandey, Chandrashekhar Azad, Bhagat Singh, Birsa Munda, Ashfaqullah etc. He named this glore as ‘Karntivan’. Noticing his epitomic efforts, now the students, locals have started volunteering servce, providing funds for his onward project of public welfare.