A cop by profession and a herbalist at heart, man plants medicinal herbs at Secretariat

The garden has already started garnering a lot of appreciation, both from the visitors and the government employees working at the Secretariat. It is situated before the 11-storeyed Namakkal Kavignar building, present inside the Secretariat complex. At least 43 varieties of rarely-heard medicinal herbs have been planted. 

When contacted, Inspector Ganesan told DTNext that he had planted the herbs with the intention of letting people know about these natural gifts from nature. “When such medicinal herbs are planted, people are bound to discuss among themselves and in this manner, more varieties emerge out of the discussion. My aim is to bring out at least 400 varieties of herbs that we have lost with time,” Ganesan said.

He also said there are 10 types of Tulsi plants and people would not have heard of them all. Similar is the case with Kandari Milagu, a medicinal variety of pepper plant that is found in Kerala. All are part of the garden, Ganesan added. The inspector developed an interest in medicinal herbs while he was posted at Peravallur police station, near Perambur. He first planted a set of medicinal herbs near the Government Hospital in Periyar Nagar. 

The State Tourism Department recognised his work and felicitated him with the ‘Best Concept Award’ in May this year. Ganesan has also written five books on nature, humanity and casteless society. 

Ganesan was helped by Jagamohan, Medical Officer (Siddha) at the Secretariat, in identifying the medicinal herbs. Jagamohan said that plants such as Justicia adhathoda ( Aada Thoda ) Glycyrrhiza glabara ( Adhimadhuram ), Piper longum ( Thippili ), Indigofera tinctora ( Avuri ) are some of the rare medicinal herbs planted in the campus. 

Along with the plants, their benefits are also listed. 

Thus, by viewing the plants, the public can not only be enlightened but also avail the same in powdered form either from Siddha centre or any from native medical shop, Jagamohan noted.