Chennaiites busy planting saplings to help city regain green cover

Prof V Chandrasekhar, a visiting faculty at the Anna University, is still painfully reminded about the loss of the beautiful green canopy in Besant Nagar during Cyclone Vardah. The academician, who also serves as the President of Senior Citizens Group of Besant Nagar, said the depleted green cover will affect the elderly population. 

“Senior citizens like myself could take a pleasant walk or sit under the shade of the trees. But now, everything is lost. The lack of trees will also affect the birds and animals, who have no place to take shelter,” said Prof Chandrasekhar, who, along will other members of the association, planted saplings in their locality. This initiative titled ‘Green Chennai Once Again’, spearheaded by environmental activist K Abdul Ghani and launched by Justice P Jyothimani, Judicial Member of National Green Tribunal (NGT), resulted in 5,000 saplings being planted across the city on December 18. 

“We want to compensate the loss of the trees destroyed by the cyclone. We started the plantation drive in Egmore and have covered areas like Loyola College, Besant Nagar, parts of North Chennai, Mylapore, Anna University, Ambattur and Anna University. The idea was not just to plant the saplings but also ensure they are maintained. We have involved students, senior citizens and working professionals, who turned up in large numbers. Native species such as neem and mango, which are suitable for the local soil conditions, have been planted,” he said, adding that this initiative will be extended to the coming week as well.  

Senior Adovate Nagasundaram R was sad to see decades-old trees uprooted by the heavy winds. This resident of MMDA Colony, who was participating in the sapling drive, said, “Some of the trees were 30-years-old and on my street alone, more than 10 trees had fallen. I think it will take at least 10-15 years for us to recover our greenery. I’m just sad that we are unable to give a green Chennai to the next generation.” 

Vinodh Sundar, an IT professional, has been unfailingly planting saplings for the last few years, along with other members of the Chennai Trekking Group (CTC). This band of green warriors lost almost 50 per cent of the saplings they had meticulously planted over the last year. 

“After the cyclone, we are visiting the places where we had conducted plantation drives and are surveying the damage. Half of what we had planted has been badly damaged. In some cases, like the Kotturpuram Park, many trees have been partially damaged. If the root is intact, these trees can be revived. Based on the results of our survey, we will renew our plantation drives with vigour,” he concluded.