Chennai gets 'tree ambulance' for aiding plantation drive

On the occasion of World Environment Day, a tree ambulance in Chennai is helping spread environmental awareness by catering to uprooted trees and offering other related services.

The tree ambulance aims at offering services like seed ball distribution, plant distribution, aiding tree plantation, shifting and survey of trees as well as the removal of dead trees.

Speaking to ANI, the founder of the tree ambulance service, Abdul Ghani, said, "The idea of a tree ambulance is to save trees by caring for sick ones and helping bring back uprooted trees and protect the trees. By 2020, our aim is to have one tree ambulance for all the districts in India."

Suresh, the president of the initiative, said, "Cyclone Vardah and Gaja uprooted hundreds of trees in Tamil Nadu and I personally have witnessed the 2015 Chennai flood. Hence, I supported Abdul Ghani for his idea to create a tree ambulance in Chennai. In the whole country, our tree ambulance is the first one which has a hydraulic machine for lifting big trees which will be delivered in a month."

This tree ambulance service was flagged off by Vice President M. Venkaiah Naidu on May 22. During the event, the Vice President said that out of the box solutions such as this, coupled with community participation, can go a long way in conserving and increasing the country's green cover.