The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Model village plans tree planting drive

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 29, 2005

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Model village plans tree planting drive

Special Correspondent

CHENNAI: Kuthambakkam, the suburban village near Poonamallee acknowledged as a model panchayat by rural development organisations, is embarking on a massive tree planting drive with the goal of providing a source of income to its less affluent residents.

The trees to be planted are Neem, Blackberry (Naaval), Iluppai, Mango, Pungan, and other traditional varieties. Panchayat president R. Ilango said similar schemes had been undertaken in the past and had yielded good results. The panchayat was looking for sponsors for about 2,000 saplings which, starting from the first week of August, would be planted in the houses of the villagers.

Kuthambakkam, which has undertaken many poverty reduction programmes, helps educate local bodies through a panchayat academy that was opened in 2004. Nearly 300 panchayats participated in these resource-sharing programmes. The village was also catering to the needs of the self-help groups. Several international agencies were also studying its developments models and employment generation initiatives based on rural activities.

The village had improved its water sources by deepening tanks.

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