Mysore/Mysuru: With no respite from summer heat, the trees and plants in public places are going dry, forcing the Forest Department to seek the help of volunteers to keep the green cover intact.

N. Raghavan of Raghulal and Co.,, a popular pharmacy shop of the city who has been doing his mite for the cause of green in the city, has been supplying  water through water tankers to water trees and plants. The inevitable situation has aroused, with no hint of rainfall that portends a spectre of severity in the situation if there is no rainfall in at least 15 to 20 days. It has indeed posed a challenge to Forest Department to feed water to saplings which are a year or two old.

Raghavan, who has the credit of planting saplings and protecting them with a tree guard, has been watering them along with those planted by Forest Department on Outer Ring Road (ORR), Rajiv Nagar, Lal Bahadur Shastri Nagar and several other localities.

Forest personnel are in awe of Raghavan for his unflinching love for the nature and say he never hesitates to spend a big sum on the upkeep of green cover.

Deputy Range Forest Officer (DRFO) Prakash said: “We are bound by norms to water a year old plant for six times in a year and three times for two-year-old trees. As we have exhausted the allotted period of watering two-year-old trees, it has become difficult to feed water for the third time. In such situations, Raghavan chips in upon bringing the matter to his notice.”