PATT was requested by Standard Chartered Bank to help them achieve their CSR objectives through tree-planting projects. In Chennai PATT partnered with Project Green Hands to implement the project. A total of 2681 trees were planted at 5 locations in and around Chennai.
Location 1: A total of 148 trees were planted at Vel Tech Multi Tech Dr. Rangarajan Dr.Sakumthala Engineering College Campus on Avadi-Alamathi Road. This campus houses several institutions belonging to the same group. The planting was done across these institutions with the help of hired hands. There is a permanent Garden Incharge, a regular employee of the college, who is responsible for maintaining all the trees planted on the campus. He has a team of employees to take care of daily watering requirements. As some of the campus areas get intruded upon by stray cattle once in a while due to the gate being accidentally left open, the Garden Incharge has prepared about 70 tree guards from thorn branches for those trees planted in vulnerable areas of the campus, at their own cost, to safeguard the trees planted.
Location 2: A total of 138 trees were planted at Vel Tech Dr.RR & Dr.SR Technical University, on Vel Tech - Avadi Road. This Deemed University is also run by the same management as above with the campus on the same road about 1 km away. This campus also has a separate Garden Incharge who is responsible for the daily maintenance of the trees planted.
Location 3: A total of 200 trees were planted at Saveetha Nagar, in Thandalam, Chennai. This campus contains the Saveetha Engineering College and Saveetha Medical College & Hospital. The planting in this campus was done by the NSS students of Saveetha Engineering College with help from hired labour for pit preparation. The daily watering of the seedlings is taken care of by the Estate Officer’s staff.
Location 4: A total of 700 trees were planted at Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board - Nessapakkam Sewage Treatment Plant, on Anna Main Road. This sewage treatment plant is the oldest and one of the biggest in Chennai. The large area and abundant organic manure availability from the treatment plant itself, makes the place ideal for planting a large number of trees. Also, to prevent the odour from the treatment plant area reaching the outside roads and residential areas, the department has been keen on planting of a lot of trees on all the vacant land available within the campus. While most of the planting here was done by hired hands, 70 trees were planted by a group of 15 employees of Standard Chartered Scope International who volunteered on January 21st. There are paid gardeners for watering these trees on a daily basis.
Location 5: A total of 1,495 trees were planted at Tamilnadu Special Police, 5th Battalion - Training Camp & Police Quarters in Avadi, Chennai. This area where the inaugural function for the planting was held, is the biggest of the planting areas undertaken during this campaign. Once the pitting was done by hired labour, the planting was started off by volunteers from Standard Chartered Scope International who planted 350 seedlings on 8th January. Thereafter, the remaining trees were planted by female cadets who are undergoing training in this campus and who stay in the barracks and quarters nearby. The daily watering of the trees is carried out by the cadets as part of their daily exercise drills.
