Jaswant Singh (50) has managed to cultivate 1,000 species of fruits, flowers and medicinal herbs at home.
Months after he received an award from the Chennai Corporation, for the best garden at home, he is all set to lend his green fingers to the civic body.
Mr. Singh will lead a team of residents tasked with raising a rooftop garden on Ripon Buildings and other structures of the civic body.
The rooftop gardens will have fruit-bearing trees such as those of papaya, jackfruit, orange, apple, blackberry, lemon, dates, mango and sapota.
The gardens will be commissioned after clearance from the heritage conservation committee (HCC). The key, officials say, is these gardens will be designed without affecting the structural stability of the heritage building.
The initiative is aimed at demonstrating that any building can have rooftop gardens by adoption of suitable technology.
Mr. Singh’s garden on Spartan Avenue in Mogappair has 55 varieties of herbs, including aloe vera, oregano, betel leaf, basil, karisalankani, black pepper, thoothuvalai, perandai, tippili, vallarai, aswagantha, thuthi, and sirukurinjan.
Officials of the civic body will study the techniques adopted by residents to grow banyan, buddhatree, arsan tree, white madar, kadamba, vanni, rudrasha, vilvam, sandalwood and coconut on rooftops.
The gardens on the premises of Ripon Buildings will also exhibit the best practices in gardening at various homes if HCC clears the proposal.
“Our children learn the art of balancing rapid urbanisation with conservation of nature through rooftop gardens at home. Urbanisation should not be a curse on the environment,” said Mr. Singh.
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