A new green lung is taking shape in the heart of the city, filled with 300 saplings of several native species of trees. A private hospital group, with took over the 1-acre open space reservation (OSR) plot on Greams Road in Nungambakkam, behind a BSNL office, planted the saplings on June 5, World Environment Day.

Harish Maniyan, CEO of MGM Hospitals which is now in possession of the land, said the vacant land parcel was found to be ideal for the greening exercise. “The hospital identified the OSR land, approached Greater Chennai Corporation and convinced its officials that the place can be converted into a green lung,” he said. The officials agreed to the proposal and the civic body handed over the premises to the hospital.

The hospital will water the saplings and replace casualties (those that do not survive) for a year, during which period the area is expected to blossom into a veritable forest. An advantage of the location is that there is absolutely no threat of vandalism or chances of stray cattle grazing on the saplings, he said. “This is crucial for their survival.”

Dinesh, founder of ‘Seerakku’ (Rectify), an NGO which has taken up the work of planting saplings in the plot, said ‘mahagony’ (100), ‘pungai’ (40), ‘veppam’ (30), ‘shenbagam’ (50), ‘poovarasam’ (50) and ‘baadhaam’ (30) have been planted and about 30 saplings from all the species retained to replace those that are expected to become casualties. Harish Manian said that this was only the beginning of the group’s mission. “We want to adopt several villages in the city’s vicinity to scale up our greening efforts. The hospital will plant saplings in the open areas in these places,” he said.

Link: https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/chennai/osr-land-in-nungambakkam-will-be-a-green-lung/articleshow/101005898.cms