Different ball game to sow seeds of greenery in city

“On Sunday last, the volunteers placed the seed balls in Retteri, Oorur lake, the highways along Maduravoyil and Redhills and also between Porur toll plaza till Tambaram.  

Simultaneous efforts were taken in 21 districts across Tamil Nadu, “ says Kameshwaran L, one of the core members of the new party and the candidate for the RK Nagar by-poll from the party. 

The volunteers say that seed balls are easy way to grow sapplings. “One sapling costs Rs 20 minimum. We have limited budgets and the maximum that we can afford is Rs 1,000 which is not enough. Giving away seed balls is much easier. 

We mix sand, clay, cow dung (manure) and seeds mixed in the shape of a ball. The volunteers just have to go to a vacant land and throw these balls. We have chosen this time of the year to go ahead with the drive  because it is raining now. 

When in contact with water, the seed will dissolve with the soil and  find a perfect habitat,” says Kameshwaran, further adding, “The forests were not planted. It was the rogue seeds left by animals and birds that grew into a new sapling and eventually a tree. We are also following this,” he further explains. They are using neem, tamarind, nilavembu, baniyan, peepal and palm trees.  

“We are mostly giving out neem and tamarind seeds within the city. Neem can survive with very less water and doesn’t require much maintenance,” says Kameshwaran. More than 250 volunteers mostly comprising young IT employees and students are on the job every day. They get to work after finishing their jobs and sit together to make the seed balls. 

“We didn’t want the jallikattu spirit to die so we formed the party. We have 156,973 people following us on Facebook and over 60,000 members.  We had a rally in Chennai and some of our volunteers also went to New Delhi when the farmers protested there,” says Kameshwaran, adding, “We were discussing about the drought situation in the state and the obvious conclusion was that there needs to be more greenery to maintain the eco system and thus the initiative started.”