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        The green canopies wave gently in the breeze cooling the sultry afternoons for the walkers on the roads of Alwarpet. They are also a pleasant cool picture to the eye. Nearly thousand such canopies of forty varieties in the area are the outcome of the work of a tailor Vijaya Bhaskaran.

D Vijaya Bhaskaran, a resident of Alwarpet, is passionate about greenery. Born and brought up amidst green surroundings he developed an affinity for it early in life.         'My home was surrounded by trees and plants and I grew to love them. Though they later gave way to concrete structures, my love for them never diminished. I grew plants and trees at my home and also in front of my shop.         Later I decided to try greening other parts of the neighbourhood and the city by enrolling myself as a member of the Exnora in 1989,' he revealed.         The neighbourhood of Alwarpet was his first target. Tree saplings were provided by the forest department and the tree guards by the Corporation of Chennai and a group of volunteers helped him in the task.

D Vijaya Bhaskaran

        'I planted a sapling in front of several homes. The plants needed to be watered for 3 months continuously I requested the inmates of the homes to water them regularly. Everyday in the morning I would also go around with two water bottles and supervise their growth and water the plants that had not been watered. Even when the city faced acute water I used to bring water from afar to water these plants' informed Vijaya Bhaskaran.

        Vijaya Bhaskaran is currently the president of Exnora Green Cross and Honorary Tree Warden of the Tamilnadu Forest Department.

        He has been initiative in greening the Annanagar, Besant Nagar and Foreshore Estate bus terminus, SIET Woman's College and Boy's School Apart from the group work, he has also planted saplings individually at various places including hilly regions.

        Volunteers have now become scarce for helping him in his individual work but it has not thwarted his efforts. 'This work gives me great satisfaction and I consider it to be a form of service to God. I want it to be a role model for everyone. It should induce every family to grow a tree in front of their homes.

        Trees are shady, cool, control pollution, sound and light levels. It provides shelter to birds and animals, creates organic soil and is a natural RWH system. Several of them are endowed with high medicinal value and the very air around them when breathed cures ailments. 'Planting a tree is the greatest service to humanity', he remarked.