When roads are a nightmare and air full of pollution, one taxi driver is doing his best to reverse the trend. Dhananjay Chakraborty’s taxi, an Ambassador has a unique green interior along with real grass rooftop garden.
India’s roads are often full of rubbish and pollution in the air but one taxi driver is doing his best to reverse the trend. Dhananjay Chakraborty from Calcutta has planted real grass on top of his Ambassador and has eight pot plants behind the back seat. The interior is also green while his love of the environment is not lost on any of his passengers. He asks each of his passengers to plant a sapling each as he states, “I have loved trees from childhood and participate regularly in plantation programs of various organisations. I have noticed that trees are planted but nobody takes care of them and soon they wither away and die. So I have decided to spread the message that trees must be planted and cared for. Wherever I travel in the city, I ask my passengers to do so,”
The trend has gathered onlookers as he has spent more than R 22,000 on planting his grass bed in the past month and a half which is altogether higher than his wages. Sabuj Rath (Green chariot) as he has named his taxi also happens to provide cooler ventilation for his passengers without the need for air conditioning. It does however come with some difficulty as the grass bed weighs a total of sixty-five kilograms which increases fuel consumption. Dhananjay is not complaining as he is proud of his endeavour. He goes onto explain that the original idea came from putting a money plant into an empty liquor bottle in his back seat. With customers appreciating the thought, he set about making it a mission to spread his message and convert his taxi into a living, breathing garden.