Mysuru has added a Miyawaki forest at the K.C. Layout park under the Bharatavana project, with Union Finance and Corporate Affairs Minister Nirmala Sitharaman inaugurating the initiative on Friday. The programme is part of a wider planting effort that has brought two lakh saplings to parks in the city.
According to the report, 45,000 saplings were planted at the K.C. Layout park, while six parks in Vijayanagar Fourth Stage received another 1.5 lakh saplings. A separate tree-planting programme in Kuvempunagar was launched virtually during the event.
The project has involved students from a local government school. The students planted individual saplings in their own names and those of their mothers, linking the public planting programme with community participation and the maintenance of newly created green spaces.
Sitharaman said only native species had been planted in the Miyawaki forest. Flowering and fruit-bearing plants were included to support animals and birds, according to her remarks reported by Prajavani. She also said similar parks had been developed in different parts of the country.
The Miyawaki model generally involves planting vegetation densely to create a compact forest in a relatively small urban area. In Mysuru, the initiative has been implemented across multiple municipal parks rather than at a single location, with the K.C. Layout site serving as the principal inauguration venue.
The event brought together officials from the district administration, Mysuru City Corporation, police and elected representatives. Those present included district in-charge minister Dr Yathindra Siddaramaiah, MP Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, MLA T.S. Srivats, Legislative Council members C.N. Manjegowda and K. Vivekananda, Deputy Commissioner Laxmikant Reddy, City Police Commissioner Seema Latkar and Municipal Commissioner M.K. Savita.
State Bank of India officials, including Chief General Manager Deepak Kaushik and General Manager Sanjay Kumar Jha, were also present, along with Jyoti Narayan Mohanty. The report did not specify the project’s maintenance plan, cost, planting schedule beyond the inauguration, or the expected survival rate of the saplings.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had been expected to launch the project, but a last-minute change led Sitharaman to inaugurate it instead. The planting programme now covers the K.C. Layout park, six parks in Vijayanagar Fourth Stage and the virtual launch site in Kuvempunagar.
