The State Highways Department overseeing the expanded Kancheepuram-Arakkonam-Tiruttani Road (SH 58) has embarked on an initiative to enhance the green cover along this vital thoroughfare. The widening, which serves as part of the Chennai-Kanyakumari Industries Corridor project, will be complemented by planting diverse saplings.
Various indigenous tree species such as vaagai, vembu, mantharai, punnai, kalyana murungai and arasa maram are among the select species to be planted along the 41 km stretch. Additionally, an array of fruit-bearing trees like guava, rosewood, izhupai, neem, tamarind, rain tree, pipal, jamun, mango and gooseberry will grace the roadside.
To ensure the saplings’ growth and protect them from damage by motorists and two-wheelers, they are being placed five feet from the carriageway. The initiative involves maintaining a small nursery to provide supply of fresh saplings.
This greening project comes in response to the removal of more than 1,200 trees, primarily tamarind and neem, during the widening work on the road over the past few years. In their place, 10,220 saplings are set to replace the felled trees.
Ensuring proper growth, each sapling will be planted 5 to 6 meters apart to protect their root systems from interference. Dried or damaged saplings will be substituted with fresh ones from the nursery. To guarantee healthy growth, volunteers will be responsible for watering the plants twice a week over the span of one year. The maintenance of these saplings will remain the responsibility of a private contractor until they reach a height of five feet. The upgrade includes stormwater drains, footpath, 18 small bridges and 124 culverts.
