Kollam: Kilikollur native Sukumaran Nair is on a mission to convince the public about the importance of bamboo. When bamboo is considered as a useless plant by many, the hard work of this 78-year-old man cannot be ignored.
Sukumaran Nair maintains bamboo groves in his 3.5-acre land at Kilikollur Cheri here in the district. There are five different varieties of bamboos in his compound. They are locally known as Metha, Peeli, Kallan, Mullan and Manja.
Sukumaran Nair has been campaigning for bamboos for many years now. In his opinion, bamboos help reduce the poison content in soil, stop air pollution and prevent soil erosion. Hence, bamboos should be planted at every household, he said.
Sukumaran Nair requests people not to destroy bamboos even if they do not plant new ones. In order to spread the message, Sukumaran Nair has been organising World Bamboo Day celebrations at his house for the last seven years.
As part of the celebrations, Sukumaran Nair distributes brochures on the benefits of bamboo, bamboo saplings and bamboo-made utensils like spoons, puttu makers etc. This year Sukumaran Nair intends to offer puttu made in bamboo puttu maker to all the guests.