A voluntary organisation called, Shine Treechy, involved in promoting an eco-friendly lifestyle in the city, offers to plant saplings near private residences with bamboo guard cages.
“Since we started in 2015, our focus has been on small initiatives,” its founder and volunteer Manoj Dharmar said.
“We aren’t interested in mass drive because we aren’t sure how effective they are. We were planting saplings for institutions. Now, we have shifted to the public.”
But the response to the offer, publicised through social media, has been mixed, said Mr. Dharmar.
“When people see ‘free,’ they want as many saplings as possible. But we have had to turn down the request because ours is a small organisation and we cannot afford to source numerous plants.
Some people have called from places outside Tiruchi despite our specific area of operation.
The most positive aspect, though, has been encouraging amateur gardeners to take the plunge and take care of a tree in a public space.”
“We give native breeds such as neem (‘vembu’), Indian tulip (‘poovarasu’) and Pongamia pinnata (‘pungai’) since the saplings will be taken care of after the initial planting. Our volunteers will do a follow-up once in two months and replace the plant in case it doesn’t thrive,” he said.
With the urban sprawl growing in Tiruchi, he said that getting a green cover within the city is nearly impossible.
“The soil quality has become affected by construction activity and the dumping of garbage. So, many plants cannot do well without adequate care,” he said. Besides, its campaign has to contend with problems like theft of plant guards and stray animals eating saplings.
“We were using metallic guards initially but when they got stolen we shifted to bamboo frames, which are made locally in Thennur. We do not solicit funds but accept voluntary donations from the public,” he said.
“We have created a database of greened areas through our past programmes. If the Government authorities could support us in our mission with regard to transport and infrastructure, we would be most happy to share our data with them,” said Mr. Dharmar.
