PERAMBALUR: Nearly one-fourth of the 3,000-odd saplings planted at Sengunam village in the district under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) at a cost of `14 lakh last year have withered away due to a lack of maintenance, say residents and activists.
They seek urgent action from the authorities to prevent the remaining saplings from meeting a similar end. Close to 3,000 saplings, including neem and tamarind, were planted by MGNREGS workers on the foothills of Sengunam Perumal hill during the onset of the northeast monsoon last year. They were also fenced and maintained till March this year.
There was allegedly no proper allocation of workers towards the maintenance of the saplings after that, leaving the saplings to die in the summer heat, without water. Seeking urgent action to save the remaining saplings, activists last week filed a petition in regard to it with Collector P Sri Venkada Priya. Activist Kumar Ayyavu from Sengunam said, "The saplings were planted in the good intention of greening the village. Workers also took good care of them. But the saplings died owing to a lack of maintenance for over a month."
Mentioning the saplings to also have perished due to cattle attack, Ayyavu said there is no use in planting them like this. “The Sengunam panchayat only plants saplings through the scheme, and fail to take care of them until they grow. Thus government money is wasted. The district administration should hence allocate additional funds to save the remaining saplings. This will make the village greener," he added.
Another resident, a 34-year-old man on condition of anonymity said, "The saplings grew well for three months. They would have grown further automatically had the authorities maintained it until the monsoon this year. But sadly, over 800 saplings died in the village without proper maintenance. More saplings are also withering away without water."
Maintaining planted saplings is more important than planting them, he stressed. When contacted, Sengunam panchayat president Chandra Kannusamy told TNIE, "New job cards were issued to MGNREGS workers. Thus we are unable to maintain the saplings. However, we will resume maintenance of the saplings this week."