Ten acres of barren land at Vilangadupakkam village in Puzhal near here is set to become a dense forest, thanks to the efforts of the district administration. The work was done under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme by planting 5,600 saplings.
Villagers, who usually benefit from working under the job scheme, have put in back-breaking work for preparing the land that was full of thorny bushes and brambles. “We levelled the land, created water sources, dug pits to plant the saplings and also dug percolation pits. If a few saplings dry up despite our watering them, we will replace them,” said panchayat president Bharathi Saravanan, who has won the post three times in a row.
Saplings of trees that are sturdy such as gooseberry, neem, gulmohur, kadamba, punnai, magizham, malai vembu, mango, badal, jackfruit, guava, pomegranate and velaam have been planted. A fence of thorns with a gate has been formed and watchmen appointed to take care of the saplings. A walkers pathway too has been planned.
