Sri Vijaya Puram: In a push for greener public spaces, uniformed personnel and forest staff joined hands on Thursday for a tree plantation drive in the Minnie Bay residential area of Sri Vijaya Puram. The Forest Extension & Publicity Division organised the activity as part of the ongoing 76th Van Mahotsav celebrations, a national afforestation campaign observed every July.
The drive saw the planting of 250 saplings, with active participation from members of the quad services stationed in the area, including the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard. Senior officers and forest department workers planted a variety of native and environment-resilient species within the administrative premises and adjoining residential plots.
Captain V. Kashi Raman was present as the chief guest, while Lieutenant Commander Prakhar Sharma attended as guest of honour. Both officers, along with their teams, participated in the planting exercise alongside field staff and daily wage workers of the Forest Division.
Officials from the Forest Extension wing said the selected tree species were chosen to suit local climatic conditions and provide long-term canopy and soil retention. While Van Mahotsav has traditionally involved school and community-level participation, this year’s emphasis on defense residential zones reflects a growing trend of involving uniformed services in broader civic and environmental engagements..
The 76th edition of Van Mahotsav is being observed across the islands through various plantation drives, awareness rallies, and community engagement programmes. The Forest Department plans to plant thousands of saplings this month, including in schools, government buildings, rural hamlets, and coastal buffer zones.
Plantation efforts are being coordinated with the help of panchayats, civil society organisations, and volunteer groups. Officials said the idea is not only to plant trees but also to assign monitoring responsibilities to local groups to ensure long-term survival.
Thursday’s plantation in Minnie Bay was conducted with logistics support from the Forest Nursery, which supplied saplings, tools, and biodegradable mulch materials. Watering and site maintenance have been handed over to local support staff within the defense housing cluster.
Participants were also briefed on post-plantation care, including mulching, drip-watering, and disease prevention techniques, to ensure high survival rates through the dry season.
While the drive was ceremonial in nature, forest officials underlined that the cumulative environmental impact of such initiatives, especially in built-up zones, cannot be underestimated. Micro-plantations in residential pockets are increasingly being seen as a way to mitigate urban heat islands and absorb air pollutants.
Forest Extension officers said similar drives have been lined up across schools in Wimberly Gunj, Ferrargunj, and remote panchayats in Little Andaman in the coming weeks.
As Van Mahotsav moves into its third week, authorities said the focus will now shift to community-led upkeep, as survival, not just symbolic planting, remains the bigger environmental challenge.
