Mangaluru International Airport (MIA) ushered in New Year 2022 in an eco-friendly way with the ‘Green New Year’ initiative.
Neatly stacked saplings of various fruit-bearing trees greeted passengers at the arrival hall and willing passengers received free saplings after showing their boarding pass with a request to nurture them for the next three months, a move that would entitle them to a gift voucher from the MIA.
Passengers were requested to share pictures of them planting the sapling and its progress after 90-days after which they will receive a gift voucher through e-mail from MIA.
The initiative received a good response from passengers who picked up saplings of their choice. The airport had procured 150 saplings of chikoo, mango, jackfruit and guava.
For the connoisseurs of fruits, the choice was between Neelam, Mallika, Alphonso and Banganapalli varieties of mango, honey and gumless jackfruit, Arka Kirana, Pink Guava, Malaysian Jambu and Pink Jambu varieties of guava. Mango and guava saplings were the favourites among the passengers.
Lauding the initiative, Amogh Raj, a professional from Bengaluru travelling to Udupi, said the initiative will help to create awareness about the need to plant and nurture trees.
Rakshit Shetty from Surathkal, who collected a guava sapling, said he will plant it in the space available at his house.