Mysuru has launched a city-wide urban greening campaign to plant two lakh native saplings, with Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman inaugurating a 4.5-acre Miyawaki forest at KC Layout Park near the foothills of Chamundi Hills.
The Bharata Vana project will involve the planting of 45,000 native saplings at KC Layout Park. Catch Foundation is undertaking plantation across four acres with 40,000 saplings, while Enviro Creators Foundation will plant another 5,000 saplings across half an acre. Plantation work is also being carried out in six parks in Vijayanagar 4th Stage.
Sitharaman inaugurated the KC Layout Park forest by planting a sapling and virtually inaugurated plantation activities at the Vijayanagar locations. More than 500 school students attended the programme, while participation across the campaign is expected to involve more than 1,000 students. Organisers said students planted saplings in the names of their mothers as part of the environmental awareness initiative.
The campaign is being funded under the corporate social responsibility programme of State Bank of India and SBI Foundation. Catch Foundation and Enviro Creators Foundation are the implementation partners. Mysuru City Corporation has supported the initiative by providing land in its parks and water facilities needed for plantation and subsequent maintenance.
The implementing organisations have undertaken responsibility for nurturing, maintaining and protecting all two lakh saplings for three years. The commitment covers the period after planting, when watering, survival monitoring and protection will determine whether the campaign results in lasting green cover rather than only a high initial plantation count.
Sitharaman said the Miyawaki forests were being developed with locally available flower- and fruit-bearing species that can also support birds and animals. The approach places native vegetation within existing public parks and links plantation work with student participation and environmental education.
The launch was initially scheduled to be inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, but the plan was changed at the last minute. District minister Yathindra Siddaramaiah, Mysuru MP Yaduveer Krishnadatta Chamaraja Wadiyar, MLA TS Srivatsa, MLCs CN Manjegowda and Vivekananda, deputy commissioner G Lakshmikanth Reddy, MCC commissioner MK Savitha and SBI Bank chief general manager Deepak Koushik attended the programme.
The next phase of the initiative will involve continuing plantation activities across the identified parks and maintaining the two lakh saplings under the three-year responsibility undertaken by the implementing organisations.
