Around 11 acres of land that was lying barren at Kavundampalayam will soon sport a green look, filled with over 4,500 plants of a dozen species. More than 500 fruit-bearing saplings were also planted.
Thanks to a joint initiative of the Salem Division of the Southern Railways, Siruthuli, a city-based environmental organisation and GE-Oil and Gas, a multinational firm.
The campaign was inaugurated on Tuesday in the presence of Shubhranshu, Salem Divisional Railway Manager, Vanitha Mohan, Managing Trustee of Siruthuli and Greg Cominos, President and Chief Executive Officer, Flow and Process Technologies, GE.
While some of the saplings came from the nurseries of Siruthuli, the rest were sourced from the Forest Department. Siruthuli will maintain the saplings for the next couple of years.
According to Siruthuli members, a ground study was undertaken before the campaign to ascertain the kind of species that would be suited to the soil condition. All the species being planted were native species and were suited to the local soil and climatic condition.
Around 500 members, including 100 personnel from the Central Reserve Police Force’s Rapid Action Force 105 Battalion at Vellalore, 50 school students, Siruthuli apex volunteers, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University students and workers from VWR International LLC, besides members of the public took part.
While around 1,500 saplings were planted on Tuesday, the rest would be planted by Wednesday.
