About 10,000 saplings of 16 varieties of trees were planted in Pollachi north, Pollachi south, Kinathukadavu, and Anamalai blocks a couple of days ago.
The daily maintenance of these saplings will be taken care of by workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) for two years. Based on a Supreme Court order that for every tree cut for a road project 10 saplings should be planted, the contractor who had taken up the Pollachi - Coimbatore Road widening works and the NHAI had given the saplings. The contractor will provide another 10,000 saplings.
Nearly 2,100 saplings were planted in each block, said J. Rooban Sankar Raj, Project Director of District Rural Development Agency (DRDA). “We have adopted the Miyawaki method to plant the saplings and will look at fencing and drip irrigation through sponsors,” he added.
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Under the scheme to improve green cover in the district involving MGNREGS workers, 45,000 saplings were planted across Coimbatore District this year. More will be planted during the next rainy season.
It is better to have “small forests” rather than taking up roadside planting, he said. If saplings are planted on roadsides it is difficult to protect the saplings and these are felled during road widening works when they grow into trees. Instead, saplings can be planted in Miyawaki method on select plots in rural areas.
The varieties chosen include hard wood trees, fruit bearing trees, and those that attract bees.
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“Private institutions can also come forward if they can spare even 10 or 20 cents for tree planting,” he said. On one acre, 2,600 to 4,800 saplings can be planted and the area becomes a small forest, attracting birds and bees. The survival rate of the saplings is 95 % and the small forests have significant impact on the ground water table too. We plan to tie up with schools as most of the institutions have eco-clubs,” he said.