Earlier, we concentrated on large areas of plantation, whenever space for greening was available. This included broad road medians near Eco Space, near Eco Urban Village and also other planned green areas in all nooks and corners. Last year, during monsoons, we planted 65,000 trees. The year before, 50,000 trees.
This year we have decided to concentrate on replacement of saplings on existing green zones which have nor survived. A survey is being done by forest directorate at our request to find out the extent (10-15% as per preliminary estimate) of replacement necessary. Mending of bamboo fences will also receive a focus.
The second strategy would be to concentrate on roadside trees - avenue plantation, on all major roads. This could not have been done earlier as Metro construction was in progress in large stretches. Now, though Metro works are still continuing, especially in the station areas, many stretches such as the one near Pride Hotel / Novotel have recently been opened to traffic as per original road alignment. The avenue plantation would be sourced mostly from the Tall Tree Nursery that has come up in a 5 acre land at Action Area 1D not far from Tata Medical Centre : the Tall Tree Nursery is a joint initiative of Hidco and Forest Department's Wasteland Development Corporation. Quality saplings up to 4-5 feet are available there.
We would, however, concentrate on slender trees, trees that do not spread out in a canopy when grown because these would obstruct street lights and vision of drivers. Pine trees, 'debdaru', 'sonajhuri', Asian Cherry Blossoms, palm trees and coconut trees are on my radar but experts say that before finalising the species of trees, they would have to test the soil for suitability (I remebered that for the tea garden in Eco Park, Andrew Yule sourced earth from their North Bengal tea gardens as existing soil was not suitable for tea bushes).
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| Foxtrot Palm Trees as Avenue Plantation : One Choice (This picture in Harinalaya) |
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