Tree Park comes up on Adyar River banks

Reported by Sankriti Krishnan

Two years ago this land was a dump yard, highly encroached and devoid of any vegetation.

This face is changing because of a project called Tree Park, thanks to Nizhal and the state Public Works Department (PWD).

Nizhal (meaning shade) is an NGO that was started back in September 2005 with the objective of promoting tree culture in urban areas. Since then, Nizhal has been involved in various campaigns and programmes, namely – the greening of the Puzhal state prison campus, greening of the stations at Kotturpuram and Kasturbai Nagar, besides other areas.

Nizhal along with the PWD facilitated the development of a Tree Park along Adyar River bank, Kotturpuram to commemorate 150 years of the PWD. About four acres of land was cleared, fenced and around 200 different species of tropical dry evergreen forests (TDEF) / indigenous, naturalized plants and trees were planted.

During the greening process this land was divided into four sections where saplings were planted and citizens and students came to the park in the evenings to pump water from a hand pump to water the plants, to add manure and help the saplings to grow in a healthy manner.

Nizhal saw many volunteers take part in this process. Members from other NGOs like Bhumi, student volunteers from the American International School, AMM Matriculation Higher Secondary School, college students from Anna University, and members of the Youth Red Cross pitch in at different periods.

Volunteers also regularly meet at the Tree Park every Sunday evening between 4.30 and 6 p m to do their bit for the greening process. Supportive citizens of the area also provided lime juice to the volunteers who worked on the Park.

In the same park, Nizhal has tied up with a team of young landscape architects led by Satish Moses, who have provided a unique idea in urban design.

Says Shobha Menon, Founder Trustee of Nizhal “Their idea involved tying ropes in a careful design to the branches of a dead tree within the Park. The rope is firmly planted to the soil with boulders and climbers are carefully positioned so that when they grow, they do so along the rope. Over time it will form a natural green design! ”

Apart from watering the saplings from time to time, Nizhal has also adopted the idea of placing water in earthern pots in the soil so that roots absorb water from these pots. The Corporation of Chennai is proposing to develop this as a unique Tree Park for the city.

Currently, Nizhal holds a number of tree walks conducted by experts so that citizens get an idea of what kind of trees are in their neighbourhood.

In the interest of promoting tree culture in urban areas, Nizhal invites interested volunteers to help make name boards for the various saplings planted at the Tree Park on River View Road, Kotturpuram.

For further information, contact: Vaishnavi Srinivasan, Program Coordinator, Nizhal : 98408 68441

E-mail: nizhal.shade@gmail.com Website: www.nizhal.org