ZIRO, 14 May: As the morning mist lifted over Ziro valley on Thursday, it revealed something more than just the usual pine-covered hills. It revealed a community in motion.
Early on Thursday morning, the sound of engines was replaced by the clinking of shovels and the chatter of neighbours. Hundreds of residents stepped out of their offices, shops, and classrooms for the 4th mass flower plantation programme. It wasn’t just a scheduled event; it was a celebration of the place they call home.
Under the simple, powerful call of ‘Each One Plant One’, the Flower Plantation Society, Ziro (FPSZ) managed to turn a quiet Thursday into a local landmark.
The scene along NH 13 – stretching from Hotel Zimin Ziro all the way to Lempia – was a rare sight of total unity. You could see schoolchildren from Bumer Memorial and Midland School laughing as they dug holes alongside seasoned officials from the Treasury and Tourism Departments. In that moment, titles like deputy commissioner or student didn’t matter – everyone was simply a gardener for the valley.
Led by Deputy Commissioner Oli Perme, the initiative saw a rare unity of purpose as district officials and residents traded their daily routines for garden tools to plant a new identity for the valley. For FPSZ chairman Subu Lento and secretary Tailyang Natung, the day was about more than just aesthetics; it was about ensuring that every traveller feels the deep care the community has for its land. From the RWD and IPR teams to the students of local schools, everyone worked shoulder-to-shoulder to transform the gray stretches of NH 13 into a corridor of potential colour. “We aren’t just putting seeds in the ground,” the organisers noted, “we are adding that final ‘feather in the cap’ to our home,” leaving the valley not just greener by sunset, but as a living reminder of what a community can achieve when it takes the beauty of its home into its own hands. (DIPRO)
