A Miyawaki forest takes root on Banaswadi railway station premises

BENGALURU: The heart of the city has just got some much-needed lung space: a Miyawaki inside the premises of Banaswadi railway station. This makes it the third such unit in the Bengaluru Railway Division to adopt this unique Japanese style of forestry. A total of 2,300 saplings were planted from July 5 to July 13 here, said a senior railway official.

“There was no expenditure incurred by the Railways as an NGO ‘Say Trees’ planted them all. The group which is passionate about spreading greenery in the country arranged funds,” the official said.
Apart from the health benefits such a huge number of trees would bring about to those around, it would be aesthetically appealing once the saplings grow and take on the contours of a mini forest, he added. “This kind of greenery is much needed in the heart of Bengaluru which has been choked by pollution,” he felt.

The NGO would maintain the trees for a few years as the initial years are extremely important, he said.
Explaining the concept behind Miyawaki, a source said, “This is a very simple idea of raising different species of trees together in a small area. Trees raised in such proximity grow ten times faster and are 30 times denser than those planted in the regular fashion.” There is hardly any distance between them and they draw their food for growth from the same source below.

The Diesel Loco Shed at Krishnarajapuram embraced this eco-friendly concept in 2017 while the Disaster Management Railway Institute at Hejjala adopted it in 2019, he added. Named after a famous 91-year-old living Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki, the concept has caught the fancy of the environmentally conscious section in India in the last five years.