Times News Network

Nagpur: The second edition of the inter-school environment quiz championship organized by Children In Progress (CHIP) will be held at Nagpur University’s Guru Nanak Bhavan on Saturday. The event is being organized in association with The Times Of India, SOIL, Ran Mangli Foundation, and Maharashtra forest department.

While the first edition saw 50 teams participating, this time over 70 teams from 40 schools from Nagpur, Wardha, Gadchiroli and Pusad will vie for top honours. In between the qualifying round and final quiz, singer Sairam Iyer would perform TOI’s Tiger Anthem. The Tiger Anthem has become a big hit, garnering over 100 million views within a fortnight of its release.

Sukesh Gandhi, the man behind CHIP, said that the quiz will go a long way in creating environmental awareness among the younger generation.
“Last year, without much effort from our side, over 50 teams participated. This year over 70 teams will be there. With many schools requesting entries, we were forced to extend deadlines multiple times,” Gandhi said.

Jaydeep Das of CHIP said that the need to attract children towards environmental issues gave birth to the quiz. “A year back, we wanted to organize a major event involving students and related to the environment. We decided against holding seminars or workshops as at times they may turn out to be a one-side monotonous activity. We wanted a fun activity and quiz competition fit the bill perfectly. We were particular about the quiz being on environment, nature, and wildlife,” Das said.

Since 2018-19, CHIP has been involving students in various environmental activities. It started with a village near Wakeshwar. CHIP taught different aspects of environment to 63 students at its Nisarg Pathshala.

In the past, the NGO has involved city students in paper-to-plant activities like recycling and plantation drives. “This year, we recycled over 11 tonne of paper. During the quiz on Saturday, we will be felicitating the schools for the green feat,” Das said.

He informed that over the years various schools have visited CHIP’s Wakeshwar centre for plantation drives, nature treks, weed removal and other activities.