ecchelmet Ushering in a green dawn –
Project GreenHands
August 15th, 2023, dawned bright and clear, reflecting the glow on the face of Umesh Kumar, Project Manager, Tiruchirappalli UGSS Phase III Project, WET IC. He had big plans for the day. Apart from hoisting the National Flag to celebrate the country’s 77th Independence Day, he had the additional responsibility to drive his team’s participation in Project GreenHands, a massive organizationwide ‘green’ initiative to collectively plant 2 million (20 lakh) saplings across geographies, businesses, and projects.
As Umesh and many like him across L&T Construction rolled up their sleeves to begin the exercise, our Chairman & Managing Director, S N Subrahmanyan’s message was ringing in their ears: “Business sustainability focusing on ESG is a key focus area in our Lakshya 2026 plans to achieve our twin sustainability goals of Water Neutrality by 2035 and Carbon Neutrality by 2040. Project GreenHands is one such initiative that is expected to yield tangible benefits in terms of business sustainability, carbon credits, and nurturing a healthy ecosystem.”
Sustainability is the new way of thinking
Project GreenHands aims to extend beyond its environmental significance to align with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals too. The well-executed campaign leveraged the monsoon season to ensure optimal survivability of the saplings and was meticulously executed across construction sites, through the collective effort of employees and workmen. Several NGOs and schools joined in, demonstrating their support to promote biodiversity.
Umesh, his EHSO, M Saravanan, and the project team led the way by planting a whopping 220,000 saplings during the campaign. “Being involved in constructing water infrastructure, we, at WET IC, are keenly aware of the issues of global warming, and it is high time that we as a global nation do something substantial to turn the tide and make a difference.
I am happy that through our concerted efforts, we did,” he says with a broad smile.
Being involved in constructing water infrastructure, we, at WET IC, are keenly aware of the issues of global warming, and it is high time that we as a global nation do something substantial to turn the tide and make a difference. I am happy that through our concerted efforts, we did.
Umesh Kumar
Project Manager, Tiruchirappalli UGSS
Phase III Project, WET IC
“Planting trees is one way of reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and carbon credits are realized when trees take in carbon from the atmosphere and offset it,” remarks K S Sudheesh Kumar, Head EHS, WET IC, and a committed proponent of ‘going green.’ Sharing his knowledge, he adds, “It is important to select the right kind of trees in such an exercise that live longer, grow big, and can store greater amounts of carbon and hence we chose Mango, Neem, Lemon, Ashoka, Jamun, Teak wood, Baadam, Banyan, Bamboo, and Sheesham trees, to name a few.”
Planting trees is one way of reducing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, and carbon credits are realized when trees take in carbon from the atmosphere and offset it.
K S Sudheesh Kumar
Head EHS, WET IC
Proof of the pudding is in the flowering
Thanks to the passion and drive of the employees and workmen, 3 million+ saplings were planted over a period of
2 weeks. A delighted Sajit Easwaramangalam, Senior Vice President & Head – WET IC, the driving force behind the campaign, enthuses, “It is great that over 500 project sites answered our call and participated, which clearly underscores our dedication to realizing a greener future and fostering ecological resilience.” Cognizant of the effort at ground level, he says, “It was certainly not easy by any stretch of imagination: to find the space to plant, sourcing the plants, finding methods to protect them, allocating manpower to carry out the planting while, at the same time, ensuring that project progress was not impacted. Fantastic effort,” he commends rousingly.
It is great that over 500 project sites answered our call and participated, which clearly underscores our dedication to realizing a greener future and fostering ecological resilience.
Fantastic effort.
Sajit Easwaramangalam
Senior Vice President & Head – WET IC
WET IC’s ISD Department developed a digital platform during Project GreenHands to capture various data points like species, number of saplings planted, latitude and longitude of the plantation area, date of plantation, etc.
Interestingly, a hardwood tree has a carbon sequestration capacity of about 20 kilograms of CO2 per year, and 1 carbon credit corresponds to 1 metric tonne of CO2 prevented from entering the atmosphere. Hence after 3 years, with a survivability rate of 90% of our saplings, which is about 3 million, we can contribute to a saving of 54,000.00 carbon credits. An amazing number indeed to help reduce emission.
What next?
It is important to nurture and monitor the saplings as they grow to ensure they are not exposed to any environmental or ecological risks. There are clear audit plans to regularly monitor the progress and survivability of the saplings and clear handover mechanisms too to the next stakeholders as and when a project closes, to ensure survival and sustenance.
While the sterling efforts of Umesh Kumar and his team, that of Vinay & team at the Khatan WSS Project, who planted an impressive 105,405 saplings, and many others like them are praiseworthy, it is only the beginning, for Project GreenHands cannot be an isolated endeavour; this organizationwide effort must continue, with renewed vigour and momentum, for us to make a lasting ‘green’ difference to the world around us.