Group on greening spree from Himalayas to Kanyakumari

 As the country is fast losing its green cover to infrastructural works, a group of people called Greenvein has undertaken a 21-year project to green India.

They call their endeavour the Greenvein Tree Trip and will arrive in Bengaluru on Monday.
The group is not only planting saplings from the Himalayas to Kanyakumari, but is also ensuring their survival. They plan to plant 1,000-2,000 saplings in districts across Karnataka. So far, they have planted one lakh saplings in Kerala and Tamil Nadu alone, including the state and national highways.

Sethu Lekshmy Nair, Karnataka State Coordinator for Greenvein, said this is the first phase of the project. “We are initially concentrating on campuses belonging to educational institutions. We meet people, create awareness, encourage them to plant trees and take care of them. We are also planning to create nurseries in every district in India.”

The group has covered 12,000 km and aims to reach 30 districts in the State.
In Bengaluru, the group will head to Christ College, Carmel Group of Institutions in Jayanagar, CMR in Banaswadi and Kairali Niketan in Indiranagar. Greenvein plants native tree species that are chosen based on the terrain.

In Karnataka they will be planting tulip, jamun, iron wood, honge, crocodile bark, neem, sandal, custard apple, karanji, amla, tamarind, jacaranda, avocado and bamboo.

Sethi added that they have trained volunteers to take care of the saplings. “The volunteers check on the saplings once a week and send us a report every three weeks.
So far we have 200 volunteers from different walks of life. Compared to urbanites, people in rural areas are more serious as they understand the importance of greening.

The Forest department officials are also helping us by supplying saplings and planting trees.

Many school and college students have joined us. This is a first such initiative and people can volunteer to be a part of it.”
DH News Service