{"id":59272,"date":"2024-07-11T15:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-07-11T09:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/idronline.org\/?post_type=ground_up_stories&#038;p=59272"},"modified":"2025-09-03T17:13:27","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T11:43:27","slug":"a-peepal-tree-of-a-marriageable-age-an-environmental-problem","status":"publish","type":"ground_up_stories","link":"https:\/\/idronline.org\/kn-in\/ground-up-stories\/a-peepal-tree-of-a-marriageable-age-an-environmental-problem\/","title":{"rendered":"A peepal tree of a marriageable age: An environmental problem"},"content":{"rendered":"<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe title=\"IDR Ground Up | A peepal tree of a marriageable age: An environmental problem\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/bGW0d-6HEZw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure><p><\/p><p>The effects of increasing tourism in Himachal Pradesh and the relentless construction work being done to support it are starting to show on the state&rsquo;s environment. In the areas in and around Solan&mdash;the district where I live&mdash;soil erosion has led to a decrease in the number of trees. As a result, the average temperature in the state is now soaring.<\/p><p>Since the past few years, some of my friends and I have been trying to create a new, dense forest by planting trees in the areas around our village. Every year, we arrange for saplings through the forest department. While planting trees, we involve the children in the village so that they can also understand the importance and need for afforestation.<\/p><p>But some traditions and beliefs have started becoming obstacles in our path. For example, we have been trying to plant peepal trees because they are considered good for the environment. However, while peepal trees are worshipped, many people believe that when they mature (usually at the age of 10 to 15), they must be married off. The responsibility of this marriage, which is conducted with great pomp and show and at huge expense, has to be borne by the person who planted the sapling. For this reason, people avoid planting this tree. Beliefs like these pose additional challenge to the environmental conservation efforts of people such as my friends and me.<\/p><p><em>Indresh Sharma works as a multimedia editor with IDR Hindi<\/em>.<\/p><p>&mdash;<\/p><p><strong>Know more:<\/strong> Learn <a href=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/ground-up-stories\/religion-or-climate-adaptation-a-dilemma-for-farmers-in-assam\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">why<\/a> Assam&rsquo;s farmers are being forced to choose between religious beliefs and climate adaptation.<\/p><p><strong>Do more:<\/strong> Connect with the author at <a href=\"mailto:inder@idronline.org\">inder@idronline.org<\/a> to learn more about and support his work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":59273,"template":"","categories":[8],"tags":[466,3601,1922],"series":[],"meta-filter":[],"schema-filter":[743],"no-display":[],"class_list":["post-59272","ground_up_stories","type-ground_up_stories","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-environment","tag-climate-change","tag-community-participation","tag-conservation","contributor-indresh-sharma","states-himachal-pradesh","schema-filter-article"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v24.3 (Yoast SEO v27.5) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>A peepal tree of a marriageable age: An environmental problem | IDR<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In Himachal Pradesh, whoever plants a peepal tree must conduct its marriage and pay for it. This custom is a major roadblock to reforestation efforts.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/ground-up-stories\/a-peepal-tree-of-a-marriageable-age-an-environmental-problem\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"kn_IN\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A peepal tree of a marriageable age: An environmental problem\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/bGW0d-6HEZw The effects of increasing tourism in Himachal Pradesh and the relentless construction work being done to support it are\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/ground-up-stories\/a-peepal-tree-of-a-marriageable-age-an-environmental-problem\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"India Development Review\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-09-03T11:43:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/idronline.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/Feature-image-solan-.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"680\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"A peepal tree of a marriageable age: An environmental problem | IDR","description":"In Himachal Pradesh, whoever plants a peepal tree must conduct its marriage and pay for it. 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