A man in Pala town in central Kerala is not only providing shade but a variety of fruits to residents and motorists alike free of charge.
Baby Joseph, a businessman, started planting fruit trees on either side of the Poonjar-Ettumanur highway at Kochidapadi four years back and they have now started bearing fruits.
There are some 250 plants, including mango, rambutan, rose apple, jambu fruit, butter fruit and gooseberry. 
He has also planted shady flowering trees like Indian laburnum along a half-kilometre stretch and is on a mission to expand.
Joseph, who launched the project on June 5, 2013, now plans to extend the roadside greenery up to Bharananganam, a major Christian pilgrim centre, which holds the mortal remains of Saint Alphonsa.
He also has a permit from the state government’s road works department to plant trees on the land in its possession.
Joseph wants all citizens to take up the cause and spread it across the state and the country to compensate for felling of trees elsewhere and fight the impact of global warming.
“I spend at least an hour every day tending to these plants,” he said. “But I don’t take the fruits. That’s for the people to enjoy.”
Two of his friends, Johnny and Eby Jose, help him, also chipping in to buy the organic manure. A local co-operative credit society had donated a pump set to water them.
But his ‘biggest enemy’ is ad agencies which put up billboards along the highway. Many times they have destroyed the young plants, fearing they would block the billboards’ view, Joseph said.
The road authorities had reached an understanding with him to make the stretch billboard-free. He approached the police many times seeking protection for the plants, but to no avail.
Last week, Eby Jose, a social worker, drew the attention of Finance Minister Thomas Isaac who took note of it on Facebook and offered to visit them.
“He treats trees as if they’re human. He is trying to find a sponsor for each one, which would also get their name,” said Jose, who heads the Pala-based Mahatma Gandhi National Foundation.
This is not Pala’s first initiative in providing greenery to its neatly kept roads. Seven years back, Pala Rubber Marketing Society started planting flowering trees along the way to Mutholy.
It spends Rs20,000 every month for its upkeep. 
Now the big yellow flowers on either side of the road are a treat to the eye.