2.5 lakh saplings in one hour: Varanasi grows a Guinness-record urban forest

On March 1, 2026, more than 20,000 people — volunteers, students, soldiers and civic workers — planted 251,446 saplings in a single hour on the banks of the Ganga, verified on-site by a Guinness adjudicator using drones and digital counting. The dense Miyawaki forest of 27 native species is being shaped into an 'oxygen bank' with walking tracks, a yoga plaza and herbal gardens for the city.