With a view to ensuring conservation of plants, the district administration has come up with a new initiative using the Miyawaki Method, a Japanese technique, as part of the Jal Shakti Abhiyan. The move is aimed at creating forests and rejuvenating green canopy in Tiruvannamalai.

A massive tree planting drive was undertaken on 50 cents of land at Vediyappan Nagar in Vallivagai panchayat. Using the workforce from the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act, (MGNREGA), 4,000 saplings were planted in the land and 500 schoolchildren participated.

Different species

District Collector, K.S. Kandasamy, District Rural Development Agencies project director P. Jayasudha, Tiruvannamalai Revenue Divisional Officer Sridevi and others were present. Mr. Kandasamy said over 30 different species of plants had been utilised.

“Compared to conventional planting techniques, this method allows planting more trees in smaller spaces. Forests will be created by planting 30 lakh saplings in 375 acres at a cost ₹4.50 crore,” he said.

The Collector along with schoolchildren and social activists threw seed balls at the foothills of Jawadhu Hills in the district.

These trees would attract birds, wild animals and butterflies and owing to the proximity to the hills, the area could become another tourist attraction in coming years, Mr. Kandasamy added.