Kovai Kulangal Pathukappu Amaippu planted 10 palm saplings on the riparian zone of the Vellalore lake on the day of Diwali.

Palm trees are planted on the river banks so that the riparian regions are protected from erosion in case of flood.

“Kovai Kulangal Pathukappu Amaippu (KKPA)”, a non-governmental organization has been into conservation and maintenance of water bodies in and around Coimbatore. They have been doing such activities for the last 142 weeks.

On account of Diwali, the organization conducted a tree planting programme on the banks of Vellalore lake. Members of the organization participated along with their families.

Maram Velusamy(85), an environmentalist from Tiruppur was invited as the chief guest and he planted the saplings along with the children. He has been working on various afforestation activities.

R.Manikandan, Coordinator of the organization spoke to the children on the conservation of nature. According to him, Diwali can be celebrated in an eco-friendly manner. This was mainly done to create awareness about the alternative methods of celebrating Diwali instead of bursting crackers.

C. Rajesh, a member of the executive committee of the organization spoke to The Covai Post, “We started these activities from Perur. We have cleaned 7 puddles so far. The other lakes come under the limits of the smart city whereas the Vellalore lake does not. So we chose this particular lake to do the cleaning activities. This lake is spread across an area of 99 acres which had been dried up for the past 13 years. After our organization took up the activity, this is the second consecutive year the lake has been overflowing. The next step is to create a mini-forest in that surrounding. On one side of the lake, we have planted almost 100 varieties of medicinal plants. On the other side, 235 varieties of trees were planted in three spells. Everyone is happy about this”.

On October 26, R.Raveendran from Residents Awareness Association of Coimbatore (RAAC) along with Coimbatore Corporation conducted a demonstration to the volunteers of Kovai Kulangal Pathukaappu Amaippu on creating organic manures from domestic wastes. They also distributed boxes required for the process. The volunteers of KKPA are planning to take this method of creating organic manures to the public soon.