Saplings from the Tamil Nadu Forest Department’s nurseries at suburban Nanmangalam and Nallur near Sriperumbudur are helping in increasing the green cover of villages in Kancheepuram district.
While 50 per cent of the saplings will be planted in reserve forests, the remaining will be planted in non-forest areas.
The species of trees raised in the nurseries include ‘vengai’ (Pterocarpus pallidus blanco), ‘manjal kondrai’ (Cassis siyamia), ‘malai vembu’ (Melia composita) and ‘magizhampoo’ (Mimusops elengi), which are ready to be supplied to villages through the respective Block Development Officers (BDOs).
BDOs have been asked to send their requirement of saplings.
Officials said 540 tree saplings were planted in the Railway Training Institute campus in Tambaram and will also be planted on the hillocks of old Pallavaram as part of the Compensatory Afforestation Fund Management and Planning Authority (CAMPA), forest officials said.
Funds sanctioned
The government has accorded sanction for a sum of Rs. 49.18 crore for a period of three years from 2013-14 to 2015-16 for implementing the massive tree planting programme across Tamil Nadu.
Officials said 9.76 lakh seedlings were raised at a cost of Rs. 93 lakh and distributed to various institutions and households free of cost during 2013-14.
The objective is to reclaim as many green patches as possible, they added.
