A mini-forest amid concrete jungle

Miyawaki technique of urban forestry helping Ramagundam turn into a ‘cool’ town

The industrial town of Ramagundam, which is also known as Agnigundam (furnace) due to the horrid heat in summers, is now turning into a cool spot.

Thanks to the urban afforestation initiative taken up by NTPC Ramagundam in coordination with the Peddapalli district administration and Forest Department, the Miyawaki project taken up on an experimental basis has borne fruit within four months with cent per cent survival.

NTPC-Ramagundam has launched pilot Miyawaki project on January 23, at its oxidation pond area spread over 1,618 square metres with plantation of around 3,350 trees of 53 species. At present, they are protected with drip irrigation systems, without the use of chemicals or pesticides. After two years of plantation, the forest will become self-sufficient and would not rely on any external maintenance. The dense forests not only help retain groundwater, recharge groundwater tables and support local biodiversity but also increase green cover and curb air pollution.

Police join in

The Karimnagar Commissionerate of Police had also taken up Miyawaki plantation at the City Police Training Centre (CPTC) on the shores of LMD reservoir and at Karimnagar Two town polices station and the Commissionerate office premises.

The plants are growing at a reasonably fast pace, turning the concrete jungle into a mini-forest. At the CPTC, the police had planted 15,000 saplings, including fruit-bearing plants. The police had also won accolades for growing mini-forests on the police station premises by adopting Miyawaki plantation method.

Commissioner of Police V.B. Kamalasan Reddy took up the initiative of planting saplings as part of Haritha Haram programme in 2018. Under his supervision, police had planted 25,000 saplings on the Markfed premises and protected them by drip irrigation method. The survival rate was close to 90%.

Later, police hit upon the idea of growing native forests in urban areas by taking up Miyawaki technique, now being adopted at police stations with big open spaces.