Chennai: On a hill near the Murugan temple at Serkadu Koot Road in Vellore, more than 100 college students recently took up spades and began digging pits. By the end of the drive, around 3,000 palm seeds had been planted across the hillside.
The effort, organised by the National Service Scheme (NSS) unit of Government Arts and Science College in Serkadu, is part of a wider palm seed plantation drive being undertaken across Tamil Nadu by the state government, Forest Department, State NSS, National Cadet Corps (NCC) and environmental organisation ExNoRo.
The Vellore initiative is designed not just as a plantation activity but as an environmental awareness effort. Students were directly involved in preparing the sites and planting the seeds, while learning about the role of palm trees in protecting groundwater levels and preventing soil erosion.
The campaign has also brought together administration and students in Tiruvarur district. In Mannargudi, Collector Mohanachandran and MLA Kamaraj launched the plantation drive by planting palm seeds and flagging off the programme. There, more than 1,000 students from schools and colleges are participating in plantation along an 11-km stretch from Melavasal to Cherankulam.
The initiative’s strength lies in turning environmental conservation into a participatory effort. Government departments, educational institutions and students are coming together around a local ecological resource, while giving young people a hands-on role in understanding and protecting it.
From a hillside in Vellore to an 11-km stretch in Tiruvarur, the drive is linking environmental awareness with action, placing students at the centre of the effort.
BI Bureau
