A live show on Radio urging listeners to call in with requests for saplings, a mobile van revving around the city with saplings for distribution, intermittent messages on environment and a batch of enthusiastic students- both from the city and abroad- on the ground to plant saplings at Agra lake off the Sajapur Road and make good their pledge for a greener city. Radio Mirchi and Garden City College (GCC) could not have found a novel way to push the quest for a greener city forward. Their greener Bangalore campaign –Hasire Usiru - kicked off on Environment Day and also marked the beginning of '2007- GCC Year of the Environment' – a series of programmes marking a year long festivities by the college to make the city greener.

“We have a history of environment conservation,” said Dr. Joseph V.G., Chairman, Garden City Group of Institutions while speaking to the media. “This year we have decided to make it a year-long affair to bring back greenery to the city,” he added .

According to Dr. Joseph, the importance of collaborative efforts between the different agencies- the government, NGOs and the citizens - in such a venture is important. “If we plan and work together, we can make a huge difference in environment conservation efforts,” he said.

Coming back to the endeavour, perhaps what was heartening about the whole exercise was the involvement of school children and their enthusiastic participation. And did they appreciate the need for such efforts? “Certainly,” said Manish Shetty, a class 8 student at Deva Matha Central School. “We can feel the effect of pollution everywhere. It was nice that we came and had fun while being engaged in such an important exercise.”