An artwork created on the banks of the Damodar in Jharkhand on Saturday by a local artist stood testament to an eloquent expression of the theme of World Environment Day this year — “Ecosystem restoration”.

The sand sculpture, a creation of Ajay Shankar Mahato, a native of Silfor-Suyadih village of Chandankiyari block in Bokaro district, at nearby Kapat Ghat, also reminded of the grim reality that hundreds of Covid-19 patients and their anxious relatives experienced recently — an acute shortage of medical oxygen.

The sculpture with the message — “Save tree, save life” — consists of three distinct sections.

While the left section shows three tree stumps where a man is seen breathing through a mask attached to an oxygen cylinder, the right side depicts a tree just behind a masked woman and the central portion of the sculpture shows a world full of greenery.

“Merciless felling of trees can lead to such a situation when we won’t be able to even breathe without the external support of oxygen,” Mahato said.

“Trees, if saved, will also protect us as mothers do and that will, in turn, make our planet actually green,” he added.

Largely unknown to outsiders, Mahato has been making sand sculptures similar to those made by Sudarshan Patnaik of Odisha who has received national and international acclaim for his creations on the beach in Puri.

“I have been making these sculptures at Kapat Ghat for nearly a decade now but the sand here is coarse unlike the fine quality found on sea beaches,” said Mahato who has a diploma in fine arts from Prachin Kala Kendra, Chandigarh.

Mahato teaches fine arts at a nearby institute.

“I create such sculptures on various occasions — be it Independence Day, Republic Day, International Yoga Day or Kargil Vijay Divas,” he further said.

Mahato said that he found satisfaction from the appreciation he got from the local people who come to see those sculptures.

People from adjoining areas of Bokaro and Dhanbad districts who know about his work come to have a look at his sculptures on the days I make them, Mahato said.

However, he said only a few witnessed the sculpture created on Saturday as “not many are venturing out due to restrictions imposed now”.

The river in the background of the sculpture looked rejuvenated with an increase in its water level and the trees on its banks looking greener, thanks to recent rainfall.

But with everything from coal dust and fly ash from collieries and coal washeries to toxic effluent from industrial units dumped in it, the Damodar indeed needs to be restored in line with the theme of the World Environment Day.