Drive to plant saplings along the highways
Rural Industries Minister Pongalur N. Palanisamy (second right) and Collector Neeraj Mittal (right) watering a sapling planted along the Pankaja Mill Road. Mayor R. Venkatachalam (second left) and Deputy Mayor N. Karthik (left) are also in the picture. Minister for Rural Industries Pongalur N Palanisamy on Wednesday inaugurated a drive to plant saplings along the highways to improve green cover.Inaugurating the drive on Pankaja Mill Road in Ramanathapuram area in Coimbatore, Mr. Palanisamy said Highways Minister M.P. Saminathan mooted a project for planting three lakh saplings across the State Highways to mark the 84th birthday of Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi. Mr. Palanisamy said the proposal was to plant 6,000 saplings in Coimbatore and another 6,000 in Pollachi division along the boundaries of the highways. He said it was always advisable to have at least one third of the land area under green cover as prescribed by experts to maintain an ecological balance.
Many of the developed countries have a good share of green cover with Japan having 58 per cent, the U.S. 40 per cent, China 30 per cent and France 40 per cent. The Minister said in 18th century, India had 50 per cent green cover but was gradually reduced to less than 25 per cent because of the rampant cutting of trees. Today India has 22 per cent green cover while it was only 17 per cent in Tamil Nadu.The administration was carrying on a sustained campaign to increase the green cover to 33 per cent. Recalling the Tamil Nadu Afforestation Project implemented at Rs. 500 crore with Japanese aid at two per cent interest during the DMK regime in 1996, he said 4,000 villages in and around hills were chosen for implementing the project and had acclaimed to be one of the successful projects.
He exhorted the highways officials to go in for three-feet tall saplings so that they could survive the ravages by stray cattle. Trees along the extreme road boundaries were often felled for development works such as widening of roads or for reasons such as obstruction to overhead power lines. Hence, to overcome this, he said the State Government was going in for a project at Rs. 1,100 crore to supply electricity through underground cables completely eliminating the overhead power lines.
District Collector Neeraj Mittal said the department was going in for shade bearing species such as neem, vaagai, pungan and tamarind trees. Besides providing shade for the travellers the trees would help in combating the pollution caused by vehicular emission.He said besides afforestation along the highways, the Government was launching many projects such as trees outside the forests, urban afforestation and green cover drive along the urban areas. He recalled the drive aimed at planting saplings in Government offices inaugurated during the Independence Day celebrations. The objective was to enhance green cover in Government offices first so that people could emulate the example. He stressed the need for making the green cover a public movement to achieve the desired results. Mayor R. Venkatachalam, Deputy Mayor, N. Karthik, Leader of the Opposition in the Corporation, V.N. Uduayakumar and others took part.
