Ahead of the northeast monsoon, more than 27 lakh saplings and palm seeds will be planted in the arid regions of Vellore and Tirupattur districts in the coming days as part of water conservation efforts by respective district administration.
Officials of the Directorate of Panchayats said that the green committees in these districts will monitor the drive. Areas were selected based on tree density. Soil tests were also conducted before planting these saplings in each area to make sure they were suited to the local weather conditions. “All 208 villages in Tirupattur district will be covered. In the first phase, around eight lakh plam seeds will be sowed in the coming days,” Tirupattur Collector D. Bhaskara Pandian told The Hindu.
In Tirupattur, the green drive is mostly restricted to sowing of palm seeds in Jolarpet, Natrampalli and Alangayam. Areas where leather tanneries are located like Ambur and Vaniyambadi towns, will also be covered as waterbodies in these places are prone to contamination. Palm seeds were collected mostly from farmers and volunteers, who collected them from river banks and other waterbodies.
In Vellore, Collector P. Kumaravel Pandian has instructed officials to ensure that at least 18 lakh saplings are planted by October 15. Plant varieties like vaagai (Albizia lebbeck), vembu (Azadirachta indica), mantharai (Bauhinia purpurea), punnai (Calophyllum inophyllum), kalyana murungai (Erythrina variegata) and ‘arasamaram’ (Ficus religiosa) will be planted as part of the drive. Plant species like guava, rose wood, naval, izhupai, mango and gooseberry will also be planted. On an average, each sapling will be six to eight feet in height to prevent them from getting damaged.
Women workers enrolled under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) scheme will be roped in for the exercise. Local bodies and NGOs will be responsible to maintain the saplings planted in these districts. Volunteers will be in-charge to water the plants twice a week for a period of one year. Tree guards, which will be removed after two years, will also be provided to prevent saplings from being damaged by the cattle.
