A five-day event as part of the World Environment Day celebrations began at Chandravana, the botanical garden of Government Ayurvedic Medical College and Hospital, here on Monday. As part of the event, medicinal plants will be distributed free of cost.
More than 890 saplings were distributed on the first day of the programme, said college principal Sathyanarayana Bhat.
The college, which possesses more than 30,000 species of plants, was currently making available 12 sought-after varieties of medicinal plants, some rare, for free to the public. “There was a huge demand for the Hippali plant, whose leaves and fibrous roots are used for the treatment of respiratory allergies and indigestion,” Dr. Bhat said.
The other variety of medicinal plants, which were in demand, included Madhunashini , whose leaves are used for treatment of diabetes.
Dr. Bhat, who is also a member of the Karnataka Medicinal Plants Authority, said the college was promoting the Ashoka tree, whose numbers are dwindling even in the Western Ghats. The bark of the tree is mixed with milk and consumed for the treatment of gynaecological problems and stress.
Other plants which will be at Chandravana during the five-day-long programme include Amruth Balle , whose leaves are used for treating fever, and Honagonne , whose leaves are used for the treatment of eyes; besides Banni plant and the Indian Red Cedar, said Dr. Vinay T.R. from the college.
Though the college collects a nominal fee of Rs. 10 from the general public for each sapling, the fee has been waived during the five-day programme ahead of the World Environment Day on June 5. “We want to promote greening of the city,” Dr. Bhat said.
The college hopes people make use of the facility to take home saplings and plant them in their gardens for use as home remedies to various ailments.
‘There was a huge demand for the Hippali plant, used for the treatment of respiratory allergies’
