The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) proposes to plant five lakh saplings in the city during the Haritha Haaram mass afforestation programme to be taken up after monsoons.
Of these, 1.25 lakh will go into the GHMC open spaces, and 1.1 lakh will be planted in the existing parks, flyovers and green curtains on flyover pillars.
While the target is to plant a total of one crore saplings this season, 95 lakh are slotted for homestead distribution alone.
In follow-up of the decision taken in the standing committee meeting earlier, laying of new Haritha Haaram parks will be taken up this year.
A total of 47 parks will be laid across the city accordingly in an area of 210 acres, with an expenditure of ₹43.8 crore, officials informed. Of these, 13 will come up in Khairatabad zone, while 10 will be in L.B. Nagar.
Besides, plantation will be taken up in avenues, lake shores, government institutions, double bedroom housing sites and forest blocks.
In a latest development, it has been decided to use the premises of various offices of the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board (HMWS&SB) to grow nurseries for Haritha Haaram. A survey will be undertaken to identify locations where such possibility prevails, officials said.
As of now, a total of 40 lakh saplings are being maintained in nurseries established on private land, while 60 lakh are in GHMC nurseries.
Open spaces owned by GHMC assume importance this season for development of tree parks, which would also protect the land.
According to information shared by officials, there are 616 open spaces with total extent of 276 acres which are lying abandoned and in total disuse. The corporation has decided to plant native trees in all these open spaces during Haritha Haaram, after clearing them of weed and garbage.
These open spaces will be formed into clusters for maintenance purposes. One labourer engaged for each cluster will be responsible for keeping the open spaces clean.
It has also been proposed to revisit the existing tree parks, which have become inaccessible to public due to growth of weed and debris. There are a total of 331 tree parks in the city’s six zones, extending to 179 acres, which will be cleaned up and planted in the gaps.