Adyar greenest part of the city, Anna Nagar second: Survey

The study conducted under the direction of Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC), Tamil Nadu Urban Infrastructure Financial Service Limited (TNUIFSL) and Chennai Rivers Restoration Trust (CRRT) revealed that a total of 9,041 individual trees were located alongside roads and avenues in all 15 zones coming under city. The two most dominant native trees found are Indian Beech (Pungai) and Neem (Vembu). 

However, this has come under criticism from the environmentalists, who stated that GCC was only focusing on south Chennai in terms of tree plantations, and the officials failed to give priority to the north and northwest parts that have lesser greenery. 

Muthu Karthick, a botanist and a nature enthusiast associated with Care Earth Trust who headed the team during the field work, told Dt Next they were involved in ground estimation of live trees along streets and all type of roads within the jurisdiction of GCC. 

“We identified 9,041 trees belonging to 121 species. The Adyar zone (13) had the highest number of trees with 56 species. Moreover, Anna Nagar and Teynampet zones also had high tree diversity with 65 species,” Muthu said, and added that north, central and northwest regions have fewer trees in number and species. 

M Vivekanandhan, another member of the team said, “More number of non-native trees were seen in the city. As far as native trees were concerned, Pungai (Indian Beech) and Vembu (Neem) were also seen in some parts.” 

Meanwhile, environmentalists have expressed concerns, as officials failed to plant trees in the north and northwest areas. Shobha Menon, founder-trustee, Nizhal, pointed out, “It is time the GCC initiated a scientific and comprehensive GIS-based tree survey of the tree cover of the city. Such a study can give crucial insights on the requirement of tree plantation in such localities.” She further questioned, “How can we aim for a Smart City when we do not have a clearly structured scientific green plan?” 

However, a senior GCC official maintained that they were continuously planting saplings across the city. “We are not biased towards particular areas and our aim is to spread greenery across the city. We will soon initiate tree planting drives in northern and other parts of the city,” he added.