Dia Mirza Birthday: Actor Pledges 40 Lakhs To Kin Of Forest Guards Impacted By COVID

During the COVID-19 induced lockdowns, people's lives were turned upside down. Every other day we saw videos of doctors and frontline workers go viral, them pleading and asking people to maintain proper COVID-19 protocols. But how many of us remembered the forest guards who were also working their job the entire time. Ahead of her 40th B'day Dia Mirza pledges 40 lakhs to kin of forest guards impacted by COVID-19. Dia will ring in her 40th on 9th December.

Ahead of her birthday, the actor Dia Mirza has asked fans, family and friends, to donate to the Van Rakshaks (Forest Guards) who lost their lives due to COVID-19. Not only that the UNEP Goodwill Ambassador has decided to donate a lakh every day over 40 days to the families of forest guards.

She said, "Our guardians of the wild, our Van Rakshaks, risk their lives in service to nature. They often fall to accidents in the toughest of terrain, inclement weather, attacks by wild animals or poachers. When the second wave of COVID-19 tore through the country leading to nationwide lockdowns, these men and women were out patrolling our country's forests on foot. Between March and June 2021, when most of us stayed at home, India lost more than 500 of these conservation heroes to COVID-19."

In June 2021, the WTI had released an ex-gratia of Rs 1 lakh to both the permanent and six temporary staff who died due to coronavirus. The families of the deceased were paid under the Conservation Heros COVID Casualty Fund- 2021. In Maharashtra, 130 deaths due to COVID-19 were reported among frontline staff and 20 among clerical.

According to the National Tiger Conservation Authority report for the year, 2021 stated intensive patrolling during the lockdown as 560,590 kilometres of forest were covered every month with 6,000 monthly wildlife sightings.

Dia Mirza Birthday

Mirza has asked people to donate to the Wildlife Trust of India (WTI), a non-government organisation, to help the families of forest guards. The actor's birthday is on December 9. On her 40th birthday to the next 40 days, she will be making these donations and she aims to cover 80 families.

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