Saplings of 1.50 lakh palm trees planted across coastal areas in Chennai to reduce sea erosion
To prevent sea erosion and reduce the damage caused by waves, a massive palm tree seed sowing campaign was carried out in the coastal areas and pond areas of the Chennai Corporation
CHENNAI: The Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) initiated the planting of 1.50 lakh palm trees in all zones. Mayor R Priya inaugurated the event at Palavakkam Beach on Friday.
To prevent sea erosion and reduce the damage caused by waves, a massive palm tree seed sowing campaign was carried out in the coastal areas and pond areas of the Chennai Corporation. This follows CM Stalin’s instruction to plant palm trees in large numbers across TN.
As many as 85,000 palm seeds are being planted in 45 places in the coastal areas of Chennai, and 65,000 palm seeds are being planted in 41 waterbodies. The planted palm seeds will be geotagged in the ‘Udavi APP’ by the civic body. The planted trees will be monitored, and the sprouting palm will be maintained. To create awareness among the public, GCC introduced the ‘Namma Thanga’ mascot.
For the plantation, palm seeds were sourced from Ramanathapuram and Dharmapuri, where palm trees are abundant. The GCC carried out the work in collaboration with National Service Scheme (NSS) students, University of Madras, and the Directorate of Technology, along with the volunteers of Tamil Nadu.
In the last four-and-half years, 4.26 lakh traditional indigenous trees have been planted to increase the green cover within Chennai Corporation. Moreover, the work of planting new saplings is also ongoing.
Sholinganallur MLA Aravind Ramesh, Corporation Commissioner J Kumaragurubaran, Regional Deputy Commissioner (RDC) South, Aftab Rasool, standing committee chairman (Education), T Viswanathan, Councillor Tamilarasi Somu and officers and volunteers attended the event.
