The “cold desert” of Leh on Sunday entered the Guinness World Records after 50,033 saplings were planted at a village here in 33 minutes by 9,000 volunteers under a drive supported by Buddhist monks to mark the “green” Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
The earlier record was held by Peru where 40,000 saplings were planted during an one-hour event by 8,000 volunteers.
The programme was flagged off by Drukchen Rinpoche, chairman of “Live to Love” initiative, at 10 seconds past 10.10 am on Sunday (October 10, 2010). The event was held in collaboration with the Commonwealth Games Delhi. More than 15,000 volunteers reached Changa village, which is nearly 40 km away from Leh town, this morning but only 9,000 were allowed to participate in the drive in this remote Himalayan region which saw massive devastation after cloudburst and flash floods in early August.
A team of three members from Guinness World Record was in the village to monitor the event. Chairman and adjudicator of the team Tarika Vara annou-nced that 9,000 people have successfully planted 50,033 saplings in 33 minutes and 25 seconds which is a new world record. Addressing a public gathering, the Rinpoche said the drive was held to preserve the environment. He noted that Leh has witnessed widespread devastation and said their impact can be minimised by plantation drives.