Corporation raises Rs 50 lakh from fallen trees

After two e-auctions that did not fetch much, the Corporation went old school, placing boxes at on January 2 (Monday) at the 78 temporary locations where the felled trees and branches were being stored. The interested parties had to put their bid in the box, which were taken to the zonal offices. Commissioner of Greater Chennai Corporation (GCC) D Karthikeyan said the auction was a transparent process. 

“We generated Rs 50 lakh. The wood and branches were sold by weight and the highest bidders have already started removing the material. We don’t get into the details of what the buyers are planning to do with the lot. Since the wood had hardly any timber value, a large portion of the lot will be used as firewood in industrial units,” he said. 

Cyclone Vardah had uprooted more than 17,000 trees in the city, depleting the already diminishing green cover. The Corporation held a brainstorming session for the re-plantation efforts, involving NGOs, academicians, Forest Department officials and horticulturists to prepare a detailed plan to re-green the city. 

“We cannot do this hastily. This is a detailed exercise. Any tree plantation done now may not yield results, as the saplings may not survive. Experts say that the best time to plan saplings is in July or August, before the monsoon season. The Corporation will certainly come out with a detailed plan,” added Karthikeyan. The budget is of no constraint, added the official. 

“The state government has given us a budget for this. The choice of saplings to be planted will be done after consultation with experts, which will mostly be native species with a few exotic trees. The Forest Department has said that the saplings can be easily acquired from other districts. Within a month or so, we will have a plan of action for re-plantation of trees,” concluded Karthikeyan.