If the forest cover is not adequate, the raindrops directly strike the earth. This results in soil erosion. The silt thus produced fills up the catchments area of the dams and results in wastage of crores of rupees. The rivers which are not dammed receive silt all the times thereby increasing the height of the riverbeds. This results in floods in the plains.

The first eight-inch layer of earth is made up of very fine particles. This is formed in a thousand years by slow breaking up of the stones in the hills. All the crops grow in this layer. The same layer contains the nutrients which are required for growth of the human body. Due to erosion this valuable soil goes into the rivers and finally into the sea. What is left behind in the hills is stones and in the plains, sand.

If this rapid rate of deforestation is not checked and afforestation is not taken up on a war footing, we should be ready for crop failures, droughts, and desertification. If the earth turns into sand you cannot grow any food in it and the man cannot survive without food and water. Millions of people will die of starvation. We shall also experience floods, the earth will warm up, and poisonous gases would result in acid rains. Trees breathe in poisonous gases and breathe out oxygen without which all the living things would perish.

Holy men of India had always considered planting of trees as the most virtuous work of all. In this respect name of Mahatma Buddha figures very prominently in the world history. He recommended that every person must plant one tree every five years. A boy, by the age of eight years must go and water the trees planted in the common lands.

There are 18 Puranas in the Hindu religion; Matsya Puran is one of them. This Purana states that if a person digs a well, he stays in heaven for that many years as there are number of droplets in the well. A person who digs up a pond gets the benefit of ten wells, a person who digs up a lake gets the benefit of ten ponds, and a person who digs up ten lakes gets the benefit of the birth of a virtuous son. If a person has ten virtuous sons then he gets the same benefit that will accrue from planting a single tree. It is not good to talk about ten children when our population growth is already alarming. We should not have more than two children.

Many countries of the world have already turned into deserts. The plains of river Nile can be included in this. Euphrates, Syria, and Greece are in the same category. Even Indus valley followed the same preocess. Mohenjodaro and Harrapa were two very famous cities. They were planned and built in a scientific manner. Their architecture is very important even today. Both these towns were covered by the dust storms. Why did this fertile land turn into sand? One possible reason could be that a lot of trees were cut down and no attention was paid towards planting of new trees.