A lull in the Corporation’s efforts to plant trees after Cyclone Vardah has finally given way to a sustained level of activity with the finalisation of a detailed project report on the plantation strategy for the city on Thursday. Residents had been complaining to the civic body that the efforts taken by the civic body in the past two years to restore greenery had been inadequate.
The Chennai Corporation will begin the project for increasing the city’s green cover from 14.9% to 20.2% by planting 103 different species of trees. Work on increasing the tree cover will start at an estimated cost of ₹228 crore in all 15 zones of the city. The tree plantation drive will be completed in 2023. “The report says that 2 lakh trees will be planted in the city by 2023,” said an official.
According to the report, the per capita green cover for Chennai has been estimated at 8.5 sq. m. The World Health Organisation has recommended 9 sq. m as per capita green cover.
In 2018-2019, the civic body is expected to spend ₹43 crore on increasing green cover in the 15 zones. Tiruvottiyur and Tondiarpet zones have a green cover of less than 10% because of a large number of industrial units, mills, power stations, petrochemical units, fishing harbour and docks. Perungudi zone with 5.31% green cover ranks the lowest in the city. The zones that have recorded a green cover of 15-20% are Madhavaram, Thiru-Vi-Ka Nagar and Kodambakkam. The vegetation in zones of Manali, Royapuram, Ambattur, Valasaravakkam, Alandur and Sholinganallur has been estimated at 10-15%.
According to the detailed project report, the avenue trees that dominate the city include neem, copper rust and rain tree.
“We have documented 1,558 neem trees in major avenues in the city. This is the highest number of trees belonging to a particular species along avenues,” said an official.
