Tree bank for a verdant canopy

A S his classmates were busy chit-chatting as usual in their college bus, P Devendran was lost in his thoughts.

- PRAVEENA SA

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.