18,500 saplings planted across 15 zones in Chennai
Posted on: 29/Mar/2019 2:53:11 PM
The Greater Chennai Corporation had plans to plant a total of 23,000 saplings dotting across 15 zones. Out of this, the corporation has completed planting 18,500 plants and remaining number of 4,500 are to be planted in April.
GCC devised this plan as an initiative to replace all the 17,000 plus trees that got uprooted due to Vardah cyclone back in December 2016. This is a project of total estimate of Rs 5 crore. The areas where samplings are so far planted includes Manali, Madhavaram, Ambattur, Mogappair, Thiruvotriyur, Alandur, Anna Nagar, Madhavaram, Sholinganalulr and Valasaravakkam.
This move is of course appreciable, but there are several activists who raise questions about the extended time consumed for the project at a time when the city is facing severe water crisis.
There are reports that affirm plantation of saplings at Mogappair, Ambedkar playground, Eri scheme road, Anna Nagar Main Road, etc. Watering for these plans are done for once in 4 days. As far as the planting is concerned, it is not done in-line in an area. The plants are planted at various spots in the road margins. This makes the process of watering them very challenging. A total of 2,690 saplings are planted in Madhavaram and 1,930 in Ambattur.
According to the corporation officials have to say, the project is handled by private companies and that they practice scientific methods proposed by Care Earth, an NGO that exclusively works for sapling plantation.
In his note about this, an engineer says only select species will be able to cope with the hot sun. This includes Vaagai, Vembu, Naattu Badam, etc. Contractors deployed for the project are supposed to take care of complete maintenance of these plants for 1 year including regular watering of the saplings.
M Govinda Rao, the Corporation Duty Commissioner says the road margins are the main areas of sapling plantation. In the upcoming financial year, we are likely to plant about 50,000 saplings for which locations are being identified. This may include parks, burial grounds, empty land areas, roadsides, etc., he adds.
