For a group of people on Sunday evening, the trees at Harrington Road took the centre stage over the shopping complexes, restaurants and various other attractions in that bustling area.
Organised by Nizhal, an NGO that has been reaching out to people on the need for sensitive greening of the city, the tree walk gave the participants a chance to learn about 14 species of trees in the area.
“There are nearly 25 to 30 species of trees, which can be found here, both along the road, as well as in the compounds of houses and institutions. We want people to be able to identify the trees in their neighbourhood and not be oblivious to the many trees they are surrounded by in the city,” said Rajani Arjun Shankar, a volunteer with Nizhal.
Among the trees that were seen on Harrington Road included cluster figs, jamuns, copper pods, gulmohars, the odhian or the Indian Ash and the mast tree. “Many indigenous trees have their own Tamil species names and we are trying to make those names popular instead of sticking to the English names. Not many people would have seen an Ash tree, so why call the odhian , the Indian Ash tree,” said Ms. Rajani.
Volunteers from Nizhal have been working with residents of Harrington Road and the Chennai Corporation in identifying trees and putting up signboards detailing the species. They also spoke to the participants about the need to plant more indigenous species.
