A Miyawaki-based plantation site will accommodate a whopping 5,200 trees of varied native species in a defined arrangement. Palmyra Palm (Panai), which are inching towards extinction, will be nurtured along the borders of the site as part of its revival. Nearly an acre of land available as 2 corresponding patches were earmarked for the development of Vanam. Grids were finely drawn on the ground factoring the towering high-tension lines running across the site. Therefore, carefully picked saplings with the characteristic of growing tall were arranged aesthetically and in a unique fashion.

Adopting modern techniques, a drip irrigation system had been installed after laying a pipeline for over 1 km to provide water supply for the site.

It is Siruthuli’s 3rd afforestation site at Perur-Chettipalayam Panchayat after SPB Vanam and Panai Vanam here.

Bookmarked:

Rotary District Governor Rtn. T.R. Vijaykumar inaugurated the plantation in presence of Coimbatore Club Rotary Central, President Rtn. Ashwin Kumar, Chairman of Siruthuli, Dr. S.V. Balasubramaniam, , Managing Trustee of Siruthuli, Mrs. Vanitha Mohan, Trustee Mr. Kanaklal Abhaichand, Trustee Mr. J. Sathish, Trustee Dr R.V. Ramani, President of Perur-Chettipalayam Panchayat, Mrs. Shanthi Prasad, Forest First Forum, Convenor, Mr V Chandrasekar, Siruthuli Apex members and staff.

Communities Participated:

Students of Sri Nehru Vidyalaya, Avila Convent Mat. Hr. Sec. School, Vidya Vikasini Mat. Hr. Sec. School and Chinmaya Vidyalaya, Rotarians and volunteers.

Siruthuli right from its inception has made maiden efforts to restore and revive the natural resources as a humble tribute to Mother Nature. Siruthuli finds it essential to create awareness among people regarding preserving our natural resources. Siruthuli along with Bharathiar University and ZF Wind Power Coimbatore Pvt Ltd planned an event, for planting 10000 saplings in 3 minutes. This was a milestone in creating awareness to preserve natural resources. It can be called as a “Rapid fire tree planting” event which took place at Bharathiar University campus with the efforts of 5000 volunteers of various colleges and organisations where they planted 2 saplings each. The event took place on 25th July 2019. The event commenced at 3 pm with an inaugural address followed by planting the 10000 saplings and went on until 4:15 pm. Volunteers above 18 yrs of age like college students and employees of corporates in the City were involved and all participated with zeal.

The event did not stop here, the students of Bharathiyar university took the initiative of nurturing the plants and in a short time, the whole cover became a green corridor where the 4 B’s made it their happy dwelling place. The entire region is lush green with happy lullabies by 4B’s where the students enjoy their free time under the trees. We could see the sense of contentment among the students when they are given the ownership of nurturing the trees planted by them.

Planting the right trees close together in a small space enhances the green cover and reinforces the green cover of the land. This leads to the co-existence of plant species and every plant draws vital nutrients from the other and they grow to become strong and healthy. The Miyawaki method was thoroughly analysed and Siruthuli tried implementing the Miyawaki method during the 11th year celebration by planting 11 trees. In the process of enhancing the green cover of our locality, Siruthuli experimented with another initiative by planting 5 species of native trees – அரச மரம், ஆல மரம், வேம்பு, மா மரம் & அரளி.The results were astounding. CRPF personnel requested the Siruthuli team if they could do plantation on their reserved site in Narasimhanaickenpalayam. Siruthuli team examined the site and found that they had 6 borewells with limited water, despite being in the foothills of Kurudi malai. They were also puzzled to find that the rainwater just runs off after the rain.

Siruthuli team initially planted 5000 trees and as the water was scarce, treated sewage water was used to water the trees. In a short period, the campus witnessed the tremendous growth of trees and the team came forward to plant 31000 more trees at the site. A man-made percolation pond was also created to hold water and improve the groundwater. The completely dry borewells started yielding water. The place was transformed into a green forest , where birds and butterflies made it their dwelling place. The Jawans maintained the space well and found solace seeing the place turn into a forest again. Siruthuli along with the CRPF team were able to expand the lung space of the region, improve water retention and enrich soil through their activities.

The Kalam vanam has been nurtured by Siruthuli since 2016 and it has grown beautifully in the 140-acre Anna University regional campus. It stands as a symbol of love nurturing the 4Bs. The lush greenery has brought back beautiful birds, busy bees, colourful butterflies and bats to the region. It is a true example of ecological balance and biodiversity. During the first phase of the project, Siruthuli planted 5000 saplings using the Japanese Miyawaki technique in which the trees are planted at a gap of two and a half – three feet space between them. This enables the trees to nourish each other and grow at a faster pace to reach out for the sunlight. This technique results in the phenomenal growth of the trees and helps create forests in a decade. The green drive started on July 27th, 2016 on Kalam’s memorial day. 80000 trees were planted on Kalam Sir’s 80th birthday to commemorate his great life and passion for ecological restoration.

In a short period of 2-3 months, there was tremendous growth in the trees planted. It was a moment of joy when Dr M. Saravana Kumar, Dean of the Regional campus at Anna university Coimbatore mentioned that students in the hostel are reluctant to go home even during the holidays as they want to nurture the trees. He added that the students placed coconuts filled with water on the branches of the trees to quench their thirst during hot summers. The plantation region is filled with pure air and a cool breeze. There is the Banyan tree in the corner of the forest planted by Padmashree awardee Salumarada Thimakka, and she was moved to tears when she saw 80000 trees happily hugging each other. The campus also has a man-made percolation pond having the capacity to hold 70 lakh litres of water. It has helped to improve the water table of the surrounding region.

From 2013 to 2020, 72% of tree cover loss in Coimbatore occurred within natural forest. The total loss within natural forest was equivalent to 227kt of CO₂e emissions. Siruthuli has thus been engaged in creating urban forests to increase the green cover, improve lung space, enrich soil and aid in the overall ecosystem to compensate for the loss. Dr Krishnan Swaminathan, founder of Idhayangal Charitable Trust approached Siruthuli to create a green space at a reserve site at Villankurichi. Having heard of Siruthuli’s effort in afforestation following the Miyawaki method, Dr Krishnan wanted to implement the same along with generating awareness about Type-1 diabetes in children.

The plantation was carried out with the active participation of children diagnosed with Type-1 Diabetes on 21st November 2020. The event was presided over by Dr Krishnan along with residents of the Green Field Housing Society, Smt Vanitha Mohan, Managing Trustee and the team from Siruthuli. 300 native trees were planted and the importance of plantation and conservation and information on type-1 diabetes was emphasized. Siruthuli has always strived to create awareness on the need to participate in eco-conservation and tree-planting by involving various stakeholders such as children, residents around locality to ensure the plantation site is maintained, and ensured that everyone is aware of the types of species that are planted are native to the region and encouraged youngsters to take part in the activity over the years.

Siruthuli has been involved in various afforestation activities since to increase green cover, expand lung space, enrich the soil and help the overall ecosystem. Planting a tree is planting hope for the future. This was the case for the 10.75-acre land belonging to the Railways adjacent to the Ondipudur flyover. The site was a blemish sight for passersby for many years filled with thorny bushes especially the meddlesome SeemaiKaruvelam (Prosopis Julifora) True to the mission of Siruthuli to create massive green spaces that would serve as oxygen factories for the surrounding concrete jungle, Siruthuli approached the IRSME of Southern Railways Shri U Subba Rao to discuss utilizing the space for plantation and received the go-ahead. A big ray of hope in the form of Ms Minal Jeswani approached Siruthuli, a Coimbatorean who had moved to the US. Having heard about the effectiveness of Siruthuli’s Miyawaki plantation, she sought help in establishing the same within the city. The approval from Railways, and the proposed project aligned when Ms Minal came forward to fund the project through the agency Home of Hope along with Spark Round table 323 and Rotary Club of Coimbatore Smart city. The bhoomi pooja for the project site was performed on 25th Jun 2020 and the project was named “Hope Vanam” to acknowledge the sponsorship of Home of Hope and to signify the importance of converting barren lands into spaces that provide for the future generations.

The project which began with removing thorny bushes proved challenging with almost six feet of building debris and garbage below the undergrowth, the work that was planned for 15 days took nearly three months to complete. Since the debris could not be moved out of the site as per regulations of the Railways, bunds were created on the Northern and Southern boundaries using debris. A low-cost filtration system was designed to treat the sewage channel running through the site, the water from which is being used to water the saplings planted in the Vanam. A sedimentation tank has also been constructed to filter the sludge in the sewage. The inauguration along with Phase I plantation took place on 3rd October 2020 and was attended by Shri Subba Rao,IRSME-Divisional Railway Manager, Salem Division, Shri Annadurai, IRSS Addl DRM, Round Table Area 7 Chairman Mr. Pradeep Rajappa and Rotary Asst.Governor Rtn.Shri Mayilswamy, who were the Chief Guests. Siruthuli represented by the Managing Trustee Smt. Vanitha Mohan, Forests First Convenor Shri V.Chandrasekar, Apex members and staff along with various volunteers took part in the plantation of 15000 trees. 6450 saplings were planted in Phase II and 9336 saplings in Phase III, making a total of 30786 consisting of 25 varieties like Punnai, Martha, Magizham, Pungan, Poovarasan, Neem etc. contributing to a large green space in the region.

Hope Vanam, developed with passion and dedication, stands as a perfect example of the process of rebuilding an environment with the involvement of the right stakeholders. The sewage water, which is being treated and used for watering the saplings is an added value in turning around things that were once bad, which provides hope for a better tomorrow.