Green push helps Hyderabad breathe easy

Hyderabad: Hyderabad’s environs are going green, and how! A certain commitment to Mother Nature and sustainable efforts to protect the city from the perils of pollution and to pass it on as a safe inheritance to coming generations, had the State government coming up with various concepts to increase the green cover in the city and across the State.

An idea driven by Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, of creating urban forest blocks around Hyderabad has started to pay rich dividends. As part of Telangana Ku Haritha Haram, the concept took off by taking parts of forest areas along the city peripheries and developing them as urban forest parks.

In the first phase, 109 urban forest blocks were taken up and corporates and individuals were encouraged to adopt them. Now, 59 of these in the Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority jurisdiction have been completed.

The work on 50 other projects is in varying stages of completion. Of the completed urban forest parks, 39 have been opened for people to enjoy nature in its full glory. The urban forest parks are provided with walking paths, viewpoints and play areas for children, Yoga sheds, cycling tracks and a Vanadarshini centre. The rest of the forest areas are being developed as conservation zones with enriched flora and fauna.

As part of the Haritha Vanam campaign, large-scale planting of trees, using local soil and trees suitable for local climatic conditions, is being done in these conservation zones.

Following efforts of the State government, the forest cover area of the city has gone up from 33.15 square km to 81.81 square km, an increase of 147 per cent. This also resulted in the per capita forest cover going up from 4.3 to 8.2. The State government’s efforts in these directions have been applauded by various quarters and even recognised by World Forest Science. The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) too appreciated Hyderabad as Tree City of the World.

With allocation of Green Budget, the GHMC, HMDA and CDMA have been engaged in large-scale sapling plantations and improving nurseries. Greening initiatives in the GHMC jurisdiction included avenue plantation at central medians, colonies and vacant areas among others.

In coming years, these urban forest parks will become urban lung spaces and provide fresh oxygen, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao had said.