The Chennai Metro Rail has spruced up the look at Koyambedu station with a pillar sporting a vertical garden now.
According to officials of Chennai Metro Rail Limited (CMRL), they have tied up with GREGO Recycling Pvt Ltd - a startup firm for this venture.
“The firm has converted old plastic waste into recyclable planter vases; this will help in using plastic in an efficient way,” officials added. But officials said, it is unlikely that it will be done in all pillars of Chennai Metro Rail stations as it may be quite expensive to install and maintain them.
Nearly 400 such vases and 1,250 plants were installed in the pillar in the parking area of Koyambedu Metro Rail station. The plants cover nearly 400 sq.ft, sources said.
Niranjan Sharma of GREGO Recycling said, this was done on a trial basis and that the firm is interested in doing this for the other pillars too. He said that they collected plastic from industrial areas and then converted them to be used as planters here; recycled water will be used using complete drip irrigation system. “We use drip irrigation system because water consumption will be minimal. We have done vertical garden in Puducherry municipal office earlier,” he added.
The pillars in Kochi Metro Rail had vertical garden when the system was opened for the public last year. Delhi Metro Rail recently installed vertical garden in a few of its pillars and plans to expand it.
