In a major green initiative in the district, three lakh bamboo plant saplings will be planted in the district on July 13 under the district administration’s project that aims at turning the district into the bamboo capital of south India.
In the first phase of the bamboo capital project, three lakh bamboo plants would be planted in the panchayats under Kasaragod and Manjeswaram blocks, a press release said here on Wednesday. The launch of the project, tipped to give an environmental facelift to the district facing an acute drinking water crisis, will be inaugurated by Revenue Minister E. Chandrashekharan at Puthige grama panchayat. Inaugural programmes will also be held at block and grama panchayat levels between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m.
Chairing a meeting of the block and grama panchayat presidents of the two blocks on July 9, District Collector D. Sajith Babu said a Central delegation would visit the district to see the project, set to be a first-of-its-kind in the country.
ISRO’s help
The Indian Space Research Organisation had offered assistance to conduct a study on the impact of the project, he added.
According to Dr. Babu, the expansion of areas under bamboo cultivation would accelerate groundwater recharge in the district. Though the district had 12 rivers, groundwater level was decreasing because of the run-off. As a large extent of laterite land in the district remained fallow, the bamboo capital project envisaged the conversion of such land into patches of greenery that would prevent rainwater run-off, he said.
Pits for planting bamboo plant saplings would be dug and the plants would be maintained for three months by Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme beneficiaries.
To study structural changes of soil the project might effect, soil samples would be collected from areas where bamboos were planted. Groundwater levels would also be recorded as part of the study, it added.