Pachathuruthu: Mini green islands of biodiversity

KOCHI: Around

30 panchayats

and

eight institutions

in the district have taken up the

pachathuruthu project

announced by state government as part of its

green initiative

.

Coordinated by the Haritha Keralam mission, the local bodies have been enthusiastically using the project to build a green space or park. While some panchayats have set aside five to ten cents of land, a few have used a larger space for the purpose. “The seedlings are supplied by the forest department, and initially the labour through MNREGs scheme was utilized,” said Sujith Karun, coordinator, Haritha Keralam. Our plan is to reach out to 82 panchayats, one in each local body, he added.

The project aims to cultivate small green islands which will be a source of potential biodiversity. The plan is also to have mini forests in local bodies which have more land to spare.

Karun said that training is being imparted to local bodies, bio-diversity management committees and officials on how to maintain the green islands, and also to identify saplings and tree varieties required in each region.

“We have been getting requests from private institutions too but the MNREG services can be sought only in case of public institutions. But saplings could be made available for them too,” he said.

The project has identified 20 fruit trees and 25 medicinal plants which can be grown in these areas. The medicinal plants that are being planted include brahmi, keezharnelli, tulasi, turmeric, ginger, panikoorka, mehendi, kuruthondi, etc. Fruit trees like amla, mango, lemon, sithaphal, etc, are included in the projects.

Elanji panchayat has set aside half an acre for building a larger greenscape. Varapetty, Palakuzha and Cheranelloor panchayats have given 25 cents each, while Pambakuda and Malayatoor have identified 30 cents each in the district. Cheranelloor panchayat vice-president Raju C K said that they are planting medicinal saplings in 25 cents of land under the old bridge.

However, Elanji panchayat member Leela Sughavas who supervised the project said that many of the fruit-bearing trees had begun flowering when the sudden change in weather affected the growing plants. “We faced a severe water shortage because of the heat in February. Right now, we don’t have enough water for the plants and most of them have dried up. Unless a water-storage facility is readied, all our plants will die,” said Leela.

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