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TN's Rooftop Gardening Scheme Withers Away
Tamil Nadu's once-popular rooftop garden scheme, which greened up several city household terraces with fruits and vegetables, has now withered.
The 'Do It Yourself' scheme, launched by former chief minister J Jayalalithaa in 2013, offered vegetable and fruit seedling kits at 900.
Besides seeds, each of these kits included tools such as hand trowels, digging forks, fertilizers, and an operational manual.
Officials also came home to teach residents how to grow the garden. They followed up every month, also provided fresh kits at periodic intervals. Each person could book two kits at once.
The scheme became so popular in the city that Jayalalithaa expanded it to other districts in 2016. While it witnessed around 1,000 bookings in that period, the scheme now remains only on paper, with the city getting fewer than 100 bookings a week.
The 'E-Thottam' app, meant to sell the kits, has disappeared from both iOS and Android stores. The kits were also meant to be sold through horticulture department's website, but when TOI booked the kits using OTP, it only led to contacts of retired officials who were not associated with the department.
A follow-up with these retired officials led to officials posted in the five horticulture depots in the city in Madhavaram, Perambur, Anna Nagar, Semmozhi Poonga, and Thiruvanmiyur, where the kits are to be sold.
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However, when TOI reached the depots in Anna Nagar and Semmozhi Poonga, they were shut. The one in Thiruvanmiyur had no stock, making the entire kit-buying process a hassle for residents.
Prabhakaran, deputy horticulture officer for Anna Nagar depot, now posted in Semmozhi Poonga, said the scheme got no funding. "The Siddha College in Anna Nagar increased their land rent. So, we shut down. We are also not getting seedling stock.
There are more private nurseries, and people prefer them," he said. The depot in the botanical garden was shut too.
The govt slashed the price of the kits to 450 five years ago, and yet there were no takers. The govt too has shown no interest in renewing the 'do it yourself' scheme. The scheme did not find a mention in the policy notes of 2024 and 2025. While lack of awareness and bureaucratic negligence in updating the tech to push the scheme is a major reason, residents blamed lack of accessibility and poor quality of the kits.
K Shanthakumar, a terrace-garden enthusiast, said with just five depots, it's a hassle for people from extreme corners of the city to buy the kit. "Nurseries are there in every neighbourhood now. They should update the scheme with localised sales options," he said.
Agriculture department secretary V Dakshinamurthy said the scheme is not defunct. "Every year, we allocate funds after the budget is finalised, usually in July.
We will look into why depots are shut and will revive them," he told TOI.
Hafiz Khan, an urban forest creator, said terrace gardening must be promoted in govt buildings and big space infrastructures. "It's a challenge to find land to grow gardens. Hence, terrace gardening must be promoted. It helps in cooling buildings too," he said.
