Chennai: “While it is important to plant trees, it is also our responsibility to look after them. Our job does not end immediately after planting it,” says Pasumai Moorthy, a resident of Teynampet, Chennai.
This is what makes this man with a green thumb unique as he, for the last 10 years, has given life to many trees around the city.
Pasumai Moorthy, runs an organisation called Green Foundation, through which he plants trees and plants and also takes care of the trees planted by other organisations and people. He is spending everyday going around the localities of Teynampet, Mylapore, Kotturpuran and Little Mount, watering the trees here.
News Today caught up with him to know more about him and his love for the trees. bout his love for trees, he says, “I was interested in trees right from my school days and always wanted to plant more trees. After doing BBA, I graduated and took up a job. However I disliked doing this regular job and my mind was always about nature and trees. So I decided to quit and started the Green Foundation 10 years back.”
Through Green Foundation he has planted nearly 7 lakh trees around the city so far. His main income however comes from looking after gardens in hotels, colleges and other public places.
Elaborating more on this, he says, “I am maintaining the garden in 18 places in the city which includes Chellamma College, Lemontree hotel and other residential complexes. Through this, I have given employment to 38 people which also includes elderly people, who have been left out from their homes. I am using 10 per cent of the salary I get from it to my Green Foundation. Apart from this, I will try to plant 20 saplings in a day, but now I have stopped it as the weather is not suitable for that and currently concentrate more on protecting the trees from the heat.”
Pasumai Moorthy goes around the neighbourhood in a share auto and waters trees daily using 2000 litres of water per day. “These days people plant trees but what is disheartening is that after planting it they think their job is over and leave it without any care. People must realise that if planting trees is their responsibility, then it is also important to look after it,” he says.
He also adds that the city has lost its green cover drastically in the last ten years. “A decade ago Chennai had a very good green cover. I can still remember the ECR Road which had trees lined up on both the sides, today, with the increasing population, many trees were cut to widen the roads but it has not been replaced. After Vardah too, we have lost lakhs of trees. The government still have not taken any steps to plant trees but instead of blaming the government, why can’t people take responsibility to plant trees in their street? It has been more than two years since the cyclone and had people taken efforts to immediately replace the trees by planting a new one, today it would have become a tree. If there is a rule stating that people had to compulsorily plant trees in front of their houses then automatically people will do it,” he says.
When asked about his aim, he says that through green foundation he intends to plant 3 crore trees all over the state. “I want to devote my entire life to this service. It is only because of the reduction in the number of trees, we are not getting enough rains and are pushed to face water scarcity. Planting trees today will help our future generation prosper,” he concludes.
For details, contact Pasumai Moorthy at 99415 23887.
Address: No 108, Chemers road, Teynampet-18.