Thousands of saplings that were planted three years ago on the boundary of the 1,600-acre government plot near Honna Kiranagi, Nadi Sinnur, and Firozabad villages, about 30 km from Kalaburagi, are crying for care.
The planting project was taken up by the Kalaburagi Zilla Panchayat to provide work under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).
The implementation of MGNREGA schemes gathered momentum in Kalaburagi when Anirudh Sravan P. took charge as the ZP CEO in 2015.
The 2011 IAS officer used the scheme to address the district’s woes and under his leadership hundreds of tanks and lakes were dredged and new ones built .
As a result, migration from rural areas to the cities was checked.
One such initiative was planting saplings on the boundary of the lands acquired by Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL), for setting up a super-critical thermal power station.
The idea of erecting a green fence around the plot was mooted by C.M. Arakere, then Range Forest Officer.
Sadashiva, a farmer from Honna Kiranagi village, contacted the ZP CEO requesting him to address the unemployment in villages.
Mr. Sravan and the KPCL authorities finalised the plan of planting trees on the 19-km boundary and the 1.5-km approach road that was connected to the Bidar-Srirangapatna NH.
The ZP CEO, along with Mr. Sadashiva, also mobilised labourers from nearby villages to work for the project under MGNREGA.
In 2015-16, the first round of planting was completed with over 5,000 saplings sown. The second round was completed the next year with over 7,000 big saplings and 13,000 small saplings planted.
Three years on, though thousands of saplings have now grown into small trees, several others had either withered owing to the extreme heat or simply vanished. There has been no one to take care of them after Mr. Sravan was transferred.
Despite requests, KPCL has not drilled borewells on the plot to water the plants during summer.
“I feel that many more plantating drives can be taken up on this patch of government land. Most of the plants are neem and its seed and leaves can be used for extracting oil. The Krishi Vigyan Kendra in Kalaburagi already has a bio-fuel wing. I am hopeful that the zilla panchayat will pursue this green initiative,” Mr. Sravan, who is now serving as Deputy Commissioner of Chikkaballapur, said over phone.
“We will again take up a planting drive under MGNREGA. We have enough saplings with the Forest Department. First, we will plant them in spots where the earlier saplings have died, and then will take up more rounds. The zilla panchayat can’t drill borewells under MGNREGA to water the plants in summer. However, I will take up the issue with KPCL,” Raja P, CEO of Kalaburagi ZP, said.
