At crack of dawn, you can trust M. Padmanabhan (55) to be taking a stroll around an 8-acre plot in Thirumullaivoyal and watering neem, banyan, gulmohar and papaya saplings and medicinal herbs.
Padmanabhan, who is a resident of Velammal New Town Nagar in Thirumullaivoyal, never returns from these early morning outings without collecting dry coconut shells and fallen seeds. His son Karthikeyan is an able assistant who help his father collect as many of these as possible. Padmanabhan does this so that he could grow seedlings in coconut shells.
The 8-acre nursery belongs to his Padmanabhan’s long-time friend Captain Sunil Simon of Air India. The Captain has allowed Padmanabhan to grow plants at the nursery. Besides distributing free saplings to residents, Padmanabhan and his family have so far planted more than 1,200 saplings in Thirumullaivoyal, Red Hills, Annanoor, Pattabiram, Ambattur and Thiruverukadu. In addition, with the support of residents, Padmanabhan has planted more than 2,000 palm seeds around a pond in Kovilpathagai village near Avadi and around Puzhal lake. Initially, Padmanabhan bought saplings from the Forest Department, which has a branch office in Anna Nagar. However, due to the procedural delay in getting the seeds, he now travels to Arani and other villages in Vellore to buy seeds.
Hailing from a family of farmers in Arani town of Vellore district, Padmanabhan, an interior designer by profession, migrated to Chennai a few decades ago, in search of a job. After doing many odd jobs, including one at a detergent-making unit in Vadapalani, Padmanabhan started creating interior designs for houses and commercial buildings, with a focus on tree cover in the buildings. His interest in trees grew gradually.
Padmanabhan says that though residents show interest in planting saplings, many fail to maintain them on a sustained basis.
“With the help of my family and local residents, I plant saplings in the locality during weekends and public holidays. But I see to it that the planted saplings are watered every day. I go around in a maxi cab and water the plants through a tank mounted on the cab,” says Padmanabhan.
“Many residents welfare associations in the locality support Padmanabhan and this has gone a long way towards improving the green cover in the neighbourhood,” says Giri Ravanan, secretary, Venketachalam Nagar Residents Welfare Association.