Sixty-three-year-old P Vincent left his job at a private bank to pursue his passion – protecting the environment.
Since his childhood, Vincent has shown a love for protecting the environment, wanting to save trees and conserve water. “Once the trees are cut down for highways and roads, it cannot come back,” he points out.
The man from Coimbatore took voluntary retirement from his job at the Indian Bank in 2001, so he could pursue what has always been his dream job.
Since then, Vincent has planted a countless number of trees. “I planted many trees in our society and more than 4000 trees for a private organization. I don’t remember the number of trees I have planted,” he notes.
In November 2015, Vincent began working with “Gram”, an NGO, which soon collaborated with the West Bengal government. The project involved stabilising the river embankments using the vetiver system for soil and water conservation besides the mitigation of floods in Nadia district.
The vetiver system, which uses the vetiver plant, is a bio-engineering tool used to stabilise river embankments through its massive fibrous long root system. Vincent explains that the vetiver root system grows up to 6-10 metres beneath the soil, preventing soil erosion.
He also adds that it is a known system used in 125 countries in the world but in India, it has been used for the first time by the West Bengal government.
Closer to home, Vincent has helped restore the Singanallur lake in Coimbatore. “Only when the problem starts, do we begin to protect the environment. Why can’t we work towards environment protect before?” he asks rhetorically.