Valentina Elangbam's tears took the social media by storm after her uncle posted a video of her on Facebook crying over felled trees in India.
In the video, the nine-year-old girl from Hiyanglam Makha Leikai in Kakching district, is seen crying inconsolably over two gulmohar saplings (Royal Poinciana) she planted four years ago that were cut down.
No sooner had her video been posted on social media than it went viral, touching the hearts of many. The video has more than 123,000 views, and shared at least 2,747 times.
According to news reports in India, the Class 5 student of an English school was contacted by none other than the Chief Minister of Manipur, N Biren Singh.
On August 7, the chief minister tweeted from his handle @NBirenSingh informing tweeps that Valentina has been made a “Green Ambassador".
In a heartwarming tweet, Singh said as soon as Valentina's cries reached him, he and other ministers of Manipur reached out to her immediately.
Happy ending
According to the Asian News International (ANI), Valentina had been made the ambassador of Manipur’s Chief Minister’s "Green Manipur Mission".
NDTV on Sunday (August 4) reported that the state forest department of Manipur also provided 20 saplings, all of which were planted along the road covering about two kilometers upon Valentina’s request.
NDTV also said the youth club in her locality has also decided to plant around 1,000 saplings in and around the locality acknowledging her love for trees.
The order stated that all official tree plantation activities taken up by the state are in recognition of the girl's immense love and exemplary affection for trees and to generate mass awareness on conservation of environment for a period of one year from the date of issuing the order, NDTV reported.
“She will be involved in various government-sponsored plantation programmes, including ceremonial tree plantation, VIP plantations, World Environment Day and Van-Mahotsava and department sponsored plantations,” NDTV reported.
Van Mahotsava is an annual tree planting festival in India done during the month of July.
Meanwhile, Valentina has attracted a large fan following from the twitterverse.
