Chennai: Chennai's green cover, majority of which were lost due to the 2015 deluge and 2016 devastating Vardah cyclone, may not return to the city anytime soon. In all, 23,000 saplings were planned to be planted across the metropolis this year, but the civic body is awaiting state government's approval for the job.
Experts say if the saplings were planted by June or July, they would have witnessed growth during the monsoon season as 2017 witnessed good rainfall. “Saplings should have been planted in June or July, as the monsoon season would have helped the growth of the trees. If the saplings are planted during monsoon season, heavy deluge would damage them,” a botanist said.
During 2016, cyclone Vardah, which brought the city to a standstill, had uprooted more than 17,000 trees along city roads. With a considerable amount of city's green cover lost, many NGOs and student groups folded their sleeves to make seed bombs and hurled them on vacant lands and parks.
“Though the post-monsoon season is also the right time to plant trees as the earth would have some moisture, approaching summer and water scarcity may affect the plants. If the corporation wants to plant trees, final weeks of the monsoon would be the right time,” the botanist said.
But civic body is sceptical over getting approval for the DPR and float tenders on time. A senior Chennai corporation official said that a DPR has been prepared to plant saplings across the city at a cost of '6 crore. “Care Earth Trust was entrusted with the work of preparing DPR. Now DPR for planting 23,000 trees along the city roads, not including parks, was submitted to the state government for its approval in September. We hope the work will be commenced before the end of this financial year,” the senior official added.
Although, according to the DPR, more importance has been given to native breeds, some exotic species that are suitable for local conditions also to be planted in Chennai. Last time when Vardah hit, many exotic breeds were fallen, which raised consciousness about native breeds.
“In 2016, thoongu moonji maram (Albizia saman) was worst hit, as it has less endurance to strong winds. This time we had selected exotic trees that can withstand cyclonic winds,” the official added.
Road width, root length taken into consideration
.The Chennai corporation, over the years, has stopped the practice of surveying road condition, the width of the road, and length of the roots before planting trees on the roads. According to a Chennai corporation official, the DPR has included a methodical study of the factors like the circumference of trunks, length of branches and roots corresponding to the width and structure of the road.
“Characterisations of trees and the space that a particular breed will occupy has also been studied,” the official added. In one of the instances of Chennai corporation's indifference towards the timely and methodical execution of projects, a corporation source revealed that over 3 lakh palm seedlings were laid waste by the civic body a couple of years ago.
“The palm seedlings were planted in many lakes following former mayor Saidai Duraisamy's announcement. After planting works were completed, the lakes began filling up, thus destroying palm plants,” the source added.
