Vacant government land by the Phalguni riverside in Kuloor and a small patch of government land in Kottara Chowki are among the 36 vacant government sites in the city where Mangaluru City Corporation has proposed to develop urban forest, said corporation Commissioner Akshy Sridhar here on Wednesday.
Speaking after the inauguration of a urban forest plantation programme taken up jointly by KIOCL Limited, the Dakshina Kannada Union of Working Journalists and activist Jeeth Milan Roche, Mr. Sridhar said that the land on which plantation was taken up on Wednesday is among the 36 vacant government sites in the city where the corporation proposed to take up plantation exercise. “The corporation has been accused of allowing a lot of concrete structures to come up that create urban heat islands. We cannot stop (building of concrete structures) or reverse it. But we can take up plantation in a big way on vacant land and restore the green balance in the longer run,” Mr. Sridhar said.
He said that the corporation has planned to clear construction and other debris dumped on government land, off the road leading to the venue of the River Festival, in Kuloor. That area will be fenced and plantation work will be taken up. Similarly, plantation work will be taken up in other vacant government plots by involving corporate firms, non-government organisations and other bodies, he said.
Earlier, more than 100 saplings of flowering, fruit-bearing and medicinal plants were planted on the vacant land opposite the Patrika Bhavan, near Urwa Market. Mr. Roche brought the saplings out of the funds provided by KIOCL Limited.
Deputy Commissioner K.V. Rajendra and Chairman and Managing Director of KIOCL Limited T. Saminathan inaugurated the plantation programme.
Mr. Saminathan later handed over to the union notebooks meant for 196 students of Government Higher Primary Schools in Kombaru of Puttur taluk and in Madappady of Sullia taluk.
Of the books sponsored by KIOCL Limited, 134 students of Kombaru school and 62 students of Madappady school will benefit, said president of the union Srinivas Nayak Indaje on the occasion.
