Inside the bamboo forest in Saigramam

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Growing tall on the banks of Mamam river that flows through the Saigramam campus in Thonnakkal, are 10,000 bamboo trees. The forest, courtesy of the non-profit charity organisation Sri Sathya Sai Orphanage Trust (SSSOT) supervised by  executive director K N Anand Kumar, has been helping visitors to the campus breathe and feel better. As the world celebrates another environment day,  the bamboo forest serves as a good example for this year’s theme - Ecosystem Restoration. The forest  that has grown wild is a serene spot in the heart of the capital city.

According to Anand Kumar, planting bamboo trees was an accidental decision. “Do you know the bamboos release 35 per cent more oxygen than other trees in the environment? Being a recyclable resource, they can regenerate infertile soil too. The trees can eliminate soil erosion. When we decided to plant the free bamboo saplings provided by Tropical Botanic Garden & Research Institute (TBGRI) in 2010 as part of an afforestation project in the area, little did we know about these qualities,” says Anand.

According to him, the forest hosts four varieties of bamboo species -Bambusa multiplex or Chinese Goddess Bamboo, Bambusa Bambos or Giant Thorny Bamboo, Dendrocalamus Strictus or Male Bamboo and Bambusa Vulgaris or common bamboo. “In the first two years, the bamboo saplings needed more care. However, later they flourished easily on the banks of the river and did not even need any fertilisers.

The plans for a forest started in 2005 and the celebrated cricketer, Sunil Gavaskar had laid the foundation stone of the facility. But due to some technical glitches, the planting of saplings happened later in 2010,” says Anand.  The greenery is now closed to visitors as part of ongoing lockdown restrictions. “Due to the restrictions, there are no celebration events on Environment Day. We hope after the lockdown, our bamboo forest will have visitors again,” concludes Anand.

EMINENT ADMIRERS
Not just Gavaskar, but late President APJ Abdul Kalam and incumbent Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu were also among the admirers of the bamboo forest. “When Dr Kalam visited here, he had wanted to stay inside the forest for two days. The silver jubilee celebration of the bamboo forest was inaugurated by Venkaiah Naidu in December 2019. He also commented that he had never seen such a beautiful forest in his life and ha stayed at the guest house built inside the forest,” shares Anand.