Objective

The survey will cover a hundred wards and five zones across the city, and is part of a Rs. 1.5 crore project funded by the National Agricultural Data Bank (NADB). The ultimate objective is to create a green urban park, which will bring down pollution levels and provide a more pleasant climate for people of the city.

Personnel from the Coimbatore Forest Department, volunteers from the Forest College and Research Institute in Mettupalayam, and NGOs like the Oli Awareness Movement and ExNoRa joined hands on Wednesday morning to survey the trees in 10 different streets of Ramnagar in the city. Forest Department officials noted the ground data of the trees. They measured the height, girth and crown cover of the trees and shrubs and would link them with their satellite images. The total area covered by the trees will be mapped through Global Positioning System (GPS). All these findings will be presented at a seminar to be held on June 5 at the Forest College in the presence of the Corporation Commissioner and members of green NGOs.

“We are surveying trees around residential areas, schools, colleges, hospitals and industrial areas to find out how healthy the tree count is, and if it is sufficient to combat pollution. We will assess the pollution levels faced by the trees at various heights and talk about what can be done,” said S. Manivasakan, Assistant Professor at the Forest College and Research Institute and one of the surveyors. The survey will also assess the strength of the trees, and older trees whose roots have weakened will be replaced with newer ones.

R. Karpagam, a teacher and a catalyst of the Oli Awareness Movement, is looked at as a model by the surveyors for the vast number of trees and potted plants at her house. “We are on the lookout for more such homes which respect the environment with their expansive greenery,” a surveyor says.

This survey will also be carried out across corporation limits of Tiruchi, Madurai and Chennai.