A group of New Town residents comprising people from different walks of life has planted more than 2,000 saplings across the township.

By the end of this year, the group — that gathers on weekends and holidays — wants to plant more than 600 trees and flowering plants of various species.

Biswajit Majumder, a New Town resident and a member of the group, said initially they started as an informal gathering of three to four who would bring plants from home and plant them anywhere where they could spot an empty patch of land.

Now the WhatsApp group of these residents is 200 strong and every weekend 20-40
people gather for the plantation drives.

According to Majumder, they first scout for suitable spots. Once the place is selected the group members decide on a species that is best suited for the place.

“If we select a stretch of a divider, then we avoid planting trees that will have large canopies as they could topple over during storms. In case we are planting along pavements we select saplings that are flexible but can provide shade,” said Majumder.

According to him, fruit and flower-bearing trees are planted at places that have at least one or two members living nearby as they can look after the trees.

Sukanta Pal, another group member, said they have planted saplings across action areas I and II.

The group is now focused on action areas II and III.

Apart from sourcing plants and saplings from members’ homes, the group also sources them from the forest department’s Tall Tree Nursery in New Town as well as different nurseries in Rajarhat.

The initiative started just after the Covid-19-induced lockdown was lifted.

The group so far has managed to plant around 2,500 saplings.

“Of these, around 75 per cent of the saplings and plants have survived. While we regularly monitor the saplings, the watering drive by the New Town Kolkata Development Authority(NKDA) is one of the main reasons why the plants survived,” said Majumder.

A senior NKDA official said they regularly undertake tree plantation drives.

Metro has reported on several occasions that avenue plantation along New Town’s dividers and pavements is done scientifically and species that don’t have large canopies and are flexible are planted in these places so that they don’t topple over during storms.

“It is good that people are stepping forward and planting trees. However, they must ensure that suitable saplings are planted,” the NKDA official said.