The Karaikal administration has initiated a greening drive with the tagline: ‘Plant or adopt a tree - give the gift of life.’
The greening drive implies that the government departments and offices and the general public will support the campaign by presenting tree saplings measuring three to five feet in place of shawls and bouquets as a gesture of greeting dignitaries at times of official visits.
The district administration expects the dignitaries to plant the saplings in public places or hand them over to authorities so that they could be planted in suitable locations.
In an appeal to the public, Collector Arjun Sharma sought their commitment to save greenery by planting and adopting trees, thereby contributing to afforestation efforts, promotion of biodiversity, setting right damaged ecosystems, mitigating climate changes and improving the environment.
He advised them to gift tree saplings with tree guards to their guests on special occasions such as marriage, birthday, house warming and anniversary. The public organisations are expected to adopt the planted trees until they grow up.
“The appeal has been received well by the people. Non-Government Organisations, self-help groups and the public in general have evinced interest in playing active roles. Some of the NGOs have shown interest in raising palmyra trees along the coastline,” Mr. Arjun Sharma said.
There was at least 30% of green cover in Karaikal, but there are several areas including river banks, channel bunds, road stretches and coastal areas where the green cover could be expanded.
The initiative would be carried out by the Agriculture Department and coordinated by the Forest Department. The Department of Information and Publicity, and all other government departments would also render support to the intense afforestation drive in Karaikal, the Collector said.
Published - October 06, 2021 11:25 pm IST
