Nanded, July 25 -- The Green India Challenge (GIC) on Friday launched its 9th Edition with the plantation of 1,000 bamboo saplings on the banks of the Godavari River at Babhali village in Dharmabad Taluka of Nanded district, Maharashtra.

According to an official release, the launch, held on the 50th birthday of Bharat Rashtra Samithi Working President KT Rama Rao, marked the beginning of one of India's largest citizen-led river-basin ecological restoration initiatives.

The inaugural plantation was led by Green India Challenge Founder and former Member of Parliament Joginipally Santosh Kumar in the presence of Mardi Karunakar Reddy, Founder of Igniting Minds Organisation; Sanjevall Raghavendra Yadav, Co-Founder of Green India Challenge; ...