RANIPET: On a blazing hot afternoon with a sultry breeze blowing across their faces, V Natarajan, along with two other men from his village, was planting banyan tree saplings along the banks of Valapandhal Lake in Ranipet.
The 31-year-old dug the earth with a hoe while two other men took out a sapling from a jute bag and planted it. They watered the sapling and fenced it with thorny bushes to protect it from grazing animals.
They went to plant palmyra seeds that Natarajan had collected over a period of two weeks. As the sun continued to drain their energy out, the fatigue was palpable. Taking a break, they took cover under an Izhuppai tree, which had grown to a modest height with drooping branches.
It stood like a canopy, giving them much-needed shade and relief. They drank some water to wet parched throats. Natarajan knew the importance of nurturing and protecting a tree, the lifesaver of all.
A full-time silk weaver, Natarajan, learned the craft from his father as it was his family’s business. He lives with his wife and children in Valapandhal, a village located at the tail-end of Ranipet that borders Tiruvannamalai’s Arni, home to handlooms.
About five years ago, Natarajan added something to his daily routine and it was for a general cause — protecting trees and increasing the green cover in his village. There was drought as seasonal rainfall failed us, especially before 2017. It then took 15 days to get the drinking water supply in our village, Natarajan says.
“I realised how crucial it was to protect trees through the teachings and seminars of G Nammalvar, an organic farming expert and agricultural scientist. He is my inspiration,” he says.
Natarajan adds that he has planted over 90,000 palmyra seeds and 3,500 tree saplings in his village and surrounding areas in the last five years. Many varieties of native species were planted, including eluppai, pungan, naval, neer maruthu, magilam, neem, puliyan, poovarasan and aalam.
“Many saplings we planted were cut down by miscreants and some failed to grow. But it did not deter me,” he says. For the protection of trees, he planted them on government office premises. He has contributed about one lakh seeds to the district administration’s efforts aimed at increasing the green cover.
Siva, Rajesh, Vasantha Kumar and Logesh have been helping Natarajan in his efforts. “I am glad Natarajan is making efforts as he spends his own money on this. Someone must take efforts to bring back what we had lost over the years – trees. It is our contribution, even if it is little,” Siva says