Ahead of the northeast monsoon, more than 27 lakh saplings and palm seeds will be planted in the arid regions of Vellore and Tirupattur districts in the coming days as part of water conservation efforts by respective district administration.
Officials of the Directorate of Panchayats said that the green committees in these districts will monitor the drive. Areas were selected based on tree density. Soil tests were also conducted before planting these saplings in each area to make sure they were suited to the local weather conditions. “All 208 villages in Tirupattur district will be covered. In the first phase, around eight lakh plam seeds will be sowed in the coming days,” Tirupattur Collector D. Bhaskara Pandian told The Hindu.
In Tirupattur, the green drive is mostly restricted to sowing of palm seeds in Jolarpet, Natrampalli and Alangayam. Areas where leather tanneries are located like Ambur and Vaniyambadi towns, will also be covered as waterbodies in these places are prone to contamination. Palm seeds were collected mostly from farmers and volunteers, who collected them from river banks and other waterbodies.
