VELLORE: As part of an ongoing green initiative, District Collector V R Subbulaxmi on Saturday inaugurated a project to plant 2,000 saplings along a one-kilometre stretch on the banks of the Palar river at Agaramcheri in Gudiyattam.
The initiative falls under the district administration’s plan to develop mini forests ranging from two to fifteen acres on government poramboke lands — including grazing lands, barren lands without ownership disputes (such as hills), and riverbeds — across taluks such as Kaniyambadi, Anaicut, Katpadi, KV Kuppam, Gudiyattam, and Pernambut.
On the occasion of World Environment Day on June 5, the district administration had launched a large-scale afforestation drive, planting 35,000 saplings across Vellore district. Of these, 2,000 were planted in Kaniyambadi taluk, 1,000 in Anaicut, 2,000 in Katpadi, 1,000 in KV Kuppam, 1,000 in Pernambut, and 1,000 in Gudiyattam — totalling 8,000 saplings on that day alone.
The collector has instructed officials to ensure the maintenance of the saplings for a period of one year, to be carried out by workers under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), in coordination with the Department of Rural Development.