UP CM Yogi Adityanath's agenda: Prune trees, ban film songs

Lucknow: With the onset of the Hindu month of ‘Saawan’ form next week, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has made his agenda clear.

The Chief Minister ordered pruning of ‘gular’ (cluster fig) trees on Kanwariya routes since the shadow of these trees is considered inauspicious among Hindus.

This is for the first time that such a decision has been taken by a Chief Minister. Acharya Chintamani Joshi of Sanskrit Degree College, said that gular, in fact, is known for its medicinal properties. “Maybe the Chief Minister ordered pruning of these trees because they grow very dense,” he added.

In another interesting development, the Chief Minister held a meeting to review preparations for the Kanwariya yatra — the first ever held by a Chief Minister in the state  — and directed all district magistrates to ensure that no film songs or vulgar songs are played during the yatra. The Chief Minister said that only bhajans would be allowed to be played by ‘kanwariyas’. The kanwariyas are Shiva devotees who travel on foot to various temples during Saawan, carrying water from the Ganga as offering to Lord Shiva.

Seven districts in western UP, namely, Meerut, Hapur, Ghaziabad, Baghpat, Muzaffarnagar, Shamli and Saharanpur are known to be susceptible to communal violence during the Kanwariya yatras. Meanwhile, the UP forest department—in keeping with the Chief Minister’s agenda—has decided to plant 27 varieties of trees mentioned in astrological, mythological, ‘tantrik’ and ayurvedic scriptures, besides those mentioned in the Quran, Bible and Guru Granth Sahib. 

Nine pamphlets, mentioning significance of trees in different religions were earlier printed by the forest department.

A pamphlet on ‘Masihi-Vatika’ based on the Bible “hails” fig, poplar, castor-oil trees and describes their virtues.