COIMBATORE: Nestled against the backdrop of the lush Western Ghats, Coimbatore is often celebrated as one of Tamil Nadu’s greenest cities. From the mist-covered slopes of the Nilgiris to the lush foothills of Kodaikanal, greenery forms an enduring canopy over the city and its surroundings. Coimbatore recently topped the results of a study on green and livable cities in the state with the highest per capita availability of green spaces.
The surrounding greenery in Coimbatore is not a day or a month’s effort; instead, it is a continuous and consistent dedication practiced by many organisations over the past few years to transform the city into a breathable green space for residents as well as tourists. One among these NGOs is One Tree Per Week (OTPw), which has been quietly converting vacant government land into green spaces. The organisation has been working for the past five years to transform the landscapes of three villages — Naickenpalayam, Peedampalli, Pallapalayam — in Coimbatore into greener areas. With India’s National Forest Policy stressing that 33% of the country’s total land area should be under forest cover, members of OTPw are creating awareness about the importance of tree planting and environmental conservation, and waste management.
OTPw president Mohanraj A, from Pattanam village in Sulur taluk, told TNIE, “I started planting trees and conducting classes for children from an early age. While working at an MNC in the US in 2018, I observed that people were deeply interested in protecting the environment and had immense respect for nature. Their attitude towards environmental conservation inspired me to follow a similar path.”
After returning from the US, Mohanraj discussed the idea of tree plantation with his friends Sureshkumar, Karthi, and Rajsekar, who are from the locality. Together, in 2021, they decided to launch a tree plantation project in Naickenpalayam village under the Pattanam village panchayat. The group decided to plant the saplings on the unused dry pond bed in the Naickenpalayam locality.
“It was a garbage dumping site and was also used as a place for people to consume alcohol. After getting a green signal from officials of the Pattanam panchayat, we cleared the bushes from the pond bed and planted 2,000 saplings across two acres in two sites. We followed the Miyawaki method, a technique for creating dense, fast-growing native forests in small spaces,” Mohanraj said.
The pilot initiative motivated them to take up their next project in 2022 in Peedampalli village panchayat, near Pattanam where the organisation planted 3,000 saplings near unused ponds, covering around two acres. Following the success of the two villages, a bigger piece of land in Pallapalayam town panchayat was waiting for them. “It was a massive project for us. The panchayat permitted us to plant saplings on five acres of vacant land,” Mohanraj recalls. During this three-year project, the organisation planted around 10,000 saplings in this area alone, and the place has now turned into a green zone. Besides, it has also planted saplings on a small scale in educational institutions, public places, and other locations.
Explaining the name One Tree per Week, Mohanraj said the concept is that if every family plants one sapling each week in their village or on unused public land throughout the year of 52 weeks, it will significantly increase the local green cover through this collective effort.
The Tamil Nadu Pollution Control Board presented the Green Champion Award to the OTPw Foundation in 2022 in recognition of its exemplary contribution to environmental protection and awareness. OTPw secretary B Sureshkumar said that the organisation has also signed MoUs with colleges to involve students in environmental protection activities.
Apart from this, the organisation is also focusing on developing and renovating toilets in government schools to ensure a healthy environment for students. Since 2021, private companies have been funding these works through CSR initiatives. As the greenery fades away amidst the hustle and bustle of Kovai, Mohanraj, along with his friends, continues to tread on the path of making the place a better, greener space for future generations to protect and to cherish.
