Government schools, with ample space, in Tirupattur are becoming nursery gardens since a part of their campus is being used to grow native saplings.
Officials of the Department of School Education said the initiative was aimed at encouraging students to understand the importance of environmental protection. At the broader level, this will help in increasing the green cover in the district, which comprises mostly arid areas such as Kandali, Natrampalli, Jolarpet, Vaniyambadi and Tirupattur town. These areas have a large number of borewells that were dug to a depth of 700-900 ft.
“Students are central to the initiative as they were roped in to water the saplings during their break,” M.P. Illavasi, District Environmental Coordinator of School Education, told The Hindu.
Some saplings that are being grown include vembu, mantharai, punnai, arasa maram, guava, rosewood, izhupai, neem, tamarind, rain tree, pipal, jamun and mango.
Most of them are fruit-bearing varieties, and can be planted on roadsides and at houses. Seeds are procured free of cost from the Department of Horticulture and Farmers.
Of a total of 114 government higher secondary schools in the district, the initiative has been started at 15 and about 6,000 saplings have been planted in the past few weeks.
Initially, the drive was started in Tirupattur and Vaniyambadi towns. S. Muni Suburayan, Chief Educational Officer, Tirupattur, has been conducting regular inspections to extend the initiative to other big towns such as Ambur, Jolarpet, Natrampalli and Alangayam.
Along with volunteers, Vellore Collector P. Kumaravel Pandian planted 5,000 palm tree saplings on the dry Otteri lake on the outskirts of Vellore on Wednesday.
