Behind the peepal tree in the vicinity of the railway station that serves as a ‘Kargil memorial’ or the 12-year-old shade tree at the General Hospital that has sprouted an arching canopy are the loving hands of a nature enthusiast.
For over a decade, D. Siva and the Bharatha Rathana MGR Podhunala Samooga Peravai, an organisation he runs, have been steadfastly engaged in a campaign devoid of fuss or fanfare to make the city greener and more alluring. Many of the hundreds of saplings the Peravai had planted across the city over the years have now matured into tall trees, adding to the green cover of a city, defined as much by its grid-lined streetscape and quadrangles as its tree-lined avenues.
“We have a long tradition of regarding the tree as sacrosanct. Unfortunately, these days trees are looked upon as dispensable commodities and there is low public awareness of their critical role in maintaining the ecological balance,” says Mr. Siva.
Over the years, this flora enthusiast has collected saplings of rare species from afar and nourished them in the nursery he has established at Thiruvalluvar Salai in Pillaithottam, near Saram.
The nursery today has a collection of over 5,000 saplings. He also employs a tissue culture technique to propagate particular varieties and is ever keen to share a sapling with anyone who has a heart for nature.
Mr. Siva dismisses notions such as geology-specific saplings, avoidance of varieties that guzzle water resources or that the deep roots of a banyan tree could destabilise the foundation of a building.
“All that is humbug,” he claims.
“No tree will harm humankind. On the contrary, during the tsunami of 2004 or even worse cyclones it was the trees of this city that bore the brunt of nature’s wrath and saved life and property,” he says.
