Thane (Maharashtra), June 13 (IANS) One crore seeds of various trees will be planted during a three-day drive along a 350 km stretch of National Highway No.3 (Agra-Mumbai) between Maharashtra’s Thane and Dhule districts, an NGO said Sunday.

Thane-based Hariyali’s ‘Maha Beejaropan Abhiyan’ is intended at increasing the green cover in the rural parts of the state, the NGO’s chief Punam Sangavi said Sunday.

Starting June 25 from Thane, the drive will go through Shahapur, Kasara, Igatpuri, Nashik, Chandwad, and Malegaon to end in Dhule, he said, adding it would witness the participation of around 10,000 people including local students.

Singavi also mentioned how the NGO has involved the Varkaris (devotees who walk to the holy town of Pandharpur to worship Vithoba, a form of Lord Krishna) in the seed planting drive since a few years.

‘We spoke to the head of the Varkari community and told them it would really help even if one devotee plants 10 seeds every day. They agreed and we have been providing them with the seeds since then,’ he said.