Forest department plans to revive the green canopy Tamil Nadu lost to Vardah

CHENNAI: Almost three months after cyclone Vardah brutally battered Tamil Nadu, the forest department has geared up to regenerate the green cover lost to the cyclone in the worst-hit districts of Chennai, Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur. Four nurseries under the department have already started growing saplings.
The forest department sent a proposal to the government for taking up planting of 50,000 saplings in the three district capitals; 1.90 lakh saplings inside the reserved forests in these districts and 2.62 lakh saplings for public which will be sold at a subsidised rate.Apart from this another 30,000 saplings will be planted in Vandalur zoo alone. All these components would be executed at a total cost of Rs13.42 crore.
A senior forest official said the department has already identified some areas for planting of saplings. However, the initiative can be executed only after a nod from the Greater Chennai Corporation. The department which aims to complete the initiative by end of November is waiting for a meeting with the civic body.
Resident welfare associations, school and college premises will also be part of restoration plan. A mixed variety of saplings is being raised in four nurseries in Velachery, Anna Nagar and Nanmangalam in Chennai and Karasangal near Padappai, the official said.
The department proposes to plant flowering trees along roads and avenues. In other areas, saplings of tropical dry deciduous species of trees will be planted.
Head of the department of botany, Madras Christian College, D Narasimhan said the forest officials have to be careful, while identifying the species for planting.
Cyclone Vardah clearly showed that exotic trees such as Copperpod (Peltophorum pterocarpum) are not suitable for residential areas located close to the coastline, he said, adding such trees can be plant ed in interior areas such as Avadi, Poonamallee or Wallajahbad near Kancheepuram.
A scene of destruction left behind by cyclone Vardah.
However, countering this argument, the forest official said many residents in the city prefer flowering trees. “We cannot totally avoid planting flowering trees,“ he said.
Narasimhan said seeds take at least a year to germinate and once they grow to the height of 8 or 9 ft, they can be planted. The department should avoid buying exotic tree saplings and the planting should be taken up in a phased manner. Only then can the cyclone casualties be compensated and the saplings have a sustained growth, he said.
Tree conservationist D Vi jayabaskar of Alwarpet has a different tale to share. He says till 2015, the forest department has distributed saplings free of cost among public. In the last two years this has been stopped.
The department can think of raising timber species, which can be distributed or sold at a nominal price to the public, he suggested.