VELLORE: As his classmates were busy chit-chatting as usual in their college bus, P Devendran was lost in his thoughts. Sitting on a window seat, the 18-year-old was gloomy looking at several trees that had just been axed in the name of road expansion. The new bypass from Madurai to Thuvarankurichi came at the expense of several old trees, aged between 60 and 120 years.
This incident stirred Devendran, who is fondly called Deva, to start an initiative, ‘Targetless Plantation of Trees’ (TPT) along with a free sapling bank. “I couldn’t shake off the pang of sadness after witnessing the construction of a new bypass road near my village. I decided to contribute my bit to nature,” the Natham native from Dindigul recalls. TPT emerged as a beacon of hope and from 2017, it has been distributing over 50,000 free saplings in Madurai, Tiruchy, Sivaganga and Dindigul districts.
The idea of saving environment was instilled in Deva from his college days. He was actively involved in the National Service Scheme (NSS) and participated in various environmental activities. He marked his first step in this journey by approaching the then judge of a district court in Natham and invited him as the chief guest for planting trees on school campus. The judge warmly accepted his invitation and even permitted the utilisation of the court’s vacant land for planting saplings.
He acquired saplings from a nearby nursery, and together with the judge, he planted saplings on the court premises. Following this, Deva started allocating Rs 5 per plant. He managed to accumulate enough funds to purchase 100 saplings and planted them throughout the village including schools and temples. Soon, the college student’s little initiative garnered attention from social media attracting many volunteers to join his cause. However, he soon realised that purchasing saplings from nurseries incurred significant expenses.
After graduating in 2020, Deva took a leap and decided to convert his family’s 1.5 acres of land into a nursery. Cultivating non-hybrid saplings, he then distributed them to residents and visitors of Natham. Deva, who is now 25-years-old, still remembers those days. “At that time, I thought, if I provide 10 saplings, at least five of them will thrive. My objective extends beyond mere numbers; rather, it encompasses the contribution I make to the environment,” he says.
During the second wave of the pandemic, the saplings were severely affected which led to the closure of the nursery. But this setback did not deter Deva from continuing his plantation drive.
He continued with the free saplings drive by procuring them from nurseries along with the assistance of numerous individuals, volunteers, and environmental activists. One such activist, who spearheads a “One Family, Three Trees” initiative from America, lends support to Deva by helping him to get a wider reach.
“A tree is like a baby. When you plant it and take proper care of it, nourish it and finally when you watch it grow, you feel content. I felt like a father, when I saw the huge grown padam tree that I had planted in the court premises,” Deva recalls.
Deva’s initiative is not only limited to students. He provides farmers with coconut and mango saplings, aiding in their agricultural practices. TPT aims to plant at least 10,000 to 12,000 trees in the coming year.
“Trees are crucial for human survival. However, in the pursuit of development, we frequently destroy them. The unmistakable signs of climate change are evident—temperature fluctuations leading to devastating floods, prolonged water scarcity in various regions and unbearable scorching heat during the summer— serve as clear indicators for humanity to prioritise environmental conservation,” he says.
Despite the regulations stipulating the planting of 10 trees for every one cut down during infrastructure development, compliance with this requirement is lacking in most cases, he says. Drawing concern, he says the government can destroy the prevailing Karuvelam trees (Prosopis juliflora) which are identified as invasive weeds, present in various locations and suggested planting native trees which suit Indian soil. “The government can also start initiatives like the Miyawaki Method for planting trees in cities,” Deva suggests.
(Edited by Srestha Choudhury)